A Tomb Raider Adventure
by ShadowLord7
Summary: This is the story of a young woman who through an awful experience learns from adventure, trials, sorrow, pain and is molded into a truly exceptional person. A baptism by fire and torment. However, no matter how awful the island is, she learns and survives with an unlikely man who might make her love again...
1. Prologue: Many Meetings at Nine Bells

**Greetings to Y'all!**

 **This is my first fanfiction that I have ever published. Any thoughts and opinions on this would be most appreciated. I started this story over a year and half ago and now I am updating and finishing this story. So, please let me know what you think of it. There are stupid typos and the writing is really bad, imo. But if you enjoy then I am happy.**

 **I recently played the Tomb Raider (2013) and I really enjoyed the game. This story will follow mostly the game, but with some slight differences.**

 **Of course, I don't own Tomb Raider… If I did, why would I be writing fanfiction? I would be writing for the games themselves. :)**

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 **Prologue: Many Meetings at Nine Bells**

Rain… Rain… it maintained it's pessimistic drear persistently in London streets and dark alley ways. Tall buses and cars' horns with the busy hubbub of the metropolitan city echoed and marred the noise threshold. To say that it was raining in London would be like saying whiskey was alcoholic. The rain was coming down in torrent sheets while rude thunder rumbled nearby. Despite the unkind weather, there were a few people in the old Irish bar, and the young lady behind the counter really didn't mind the dim lights as she wiped the old oak wood with her cleaning rag. She was used to the rough environment she worked in. cracking her slender next and attempting to rub the soreness away with her hand, she looked at her reflection in one of the tall beer glasses before her. Rich dark brown hair tied back in her signature pony tail with her bangs rebelliously framing her face, a pretty face with softly defined striking features and two boring brown eyes under thin eyebrows… _'Why did I have to have brown eyes… so… common ugh!'_ It wasn't the first time Lara Croft had been annoyed she had not inherited her mother's vibrate green eyes, and she had pondered but was not vain enough to go get colored contacts to change her eyes. Those eyes caught a movement from one of her patrons that had come, though it was a slow evening. Sometimes it being slow was quite a nice experience and allowed her to talk with her good friends and regulars. At one dark wooden tables was Mr. and Mrs. Gary Morris, an elderly couple in their late 60s who would come as often two or three times a week, they played cards, talked gaily and laughed over jokes from their life together. Many times, she found watching them endearing as Gary (Mr. Morris) would ask his dear wife for a dance and then they would waltz around to an imaginary tune playing in their heads. Watching the display of that simple love, Lara would wonder what that must be like.

On this night though Lara couldn't help but wonder why they would be out here at such a storming and awful evening, but it was always good to see them. They had been frequenting the bar long before she had started working at Nine Bells and they always tipped well. They were the kind of people that generally cared about everyone and anyone. Annie Morris would gush and dote on her while telling her to never give up on her dreams. They were her greatest supporters who thought her goals of going into archology was exciting, cool and encouraged her to pursue her purpose with a steadfastness to conquer all difficulties.

Over in the far dark corner, which was his choice of location always, that was dimly lit was a young man. His face glowing in pale blue-white light from his laptop as he was busily typing away. Textbooks lay all around him as he sipped his Indian Pale Ale with great enjoyment.

' _Probably programming again.'_ Lara thought dryly to herself as she watched his eyes flicker back and forth in his face as he typed furiously his eyebrows knotting in concentration. ' _Alex always sits in the same corner and doesn't seem to notice anyone. And,'_ Lara happily grinned, ' _like a typical American he always wanted his beer icy cold and with the highest IBU's and hops possible.'_ He always seemed to be dressed in what must be the nerdiest way possible. A grey hoodie with decals on the back, and a dark blue shirt with the Dungeons and Dragons logo blazed in red on the front. His black leather motorcycle jacket hung casually over the back of the booth seat. His brown hair was tousled and unkempt, as though he had just woken up and ran his hands quickly through it. ' _He would look a lot better without those glasses covering his eyes. Not that he doesn't pull it off, but…'_ Lara blushed at the familiar thought coursing through her mind. _'It was rather ridiculous, maybe Sam is right, I need to just get laid. Could it really be that simple?'_

Lara knew she did not lack in the looks department. However, only 19 years old, she had matured to the point where some guys would just come in to **'Talk'** with her. With her long dark brown hair in a ponytail, soft brown eyes and a body, 'Even a Greek Goddess would be jealous of.' At least according to Sam. Mostly these men did not come to talk but to ogle her. While she appreciated the complement that was hidden somewhere deep in dark in that fact; she found it rather unsettling and had a few times had to ask people to leave. It was not something she enjoyed doing and it happened to never cost efficient since the jerks would stiff her by not paying a tip.

Still, she had never _really_ tried to have a relationship though with a guy. Not that she was against it; she just did not have the time for hassle that comes with a boyfriend. Not that she had not had some rather _interesting_ experiences as her best friend and roommate Samantha Nishimura had been trying to set her up for the last year that they had lived with each other. Lara had always said "No!" quite forcefully in fact, yet still went on some of the blind dates her roomie had forced her to go to attend them. Those dates had been abysmal failures and Lara had sworn off blind dates from that point forward. Of course, that did not stop Sam from pursuing her own **'activities'**. There were many times at night Lara would wish Sam's room walls were more… soundproof.

Lara's eyes focused again as she suddenly realized that she had been staring at the young man the entire time. Only now, he was looking back at her, his piercing blue eyes curiously observing her. _'Damn! I've been caught staring! Look elsewhere; pretend to be looking at something else!'_ Lara could feel the heat rising to the roots of her hair, _'Thank God he won't see that I am blushing. Maybe no one will notice.'_ It seemed that God had abandoned her though in her deep need. Her dear best friend's voice teasingly broke Lara's troubled thoughts, "Sam calling to Lara, Sam calling to Lara, you there girl?"

Turning to the American, whose heritage was obviously of Asian descent due to her dark hair and slightly tilted eyes, Lara scowled trying to hide her embarrassment. "Of course I am here. Once up?"

Sam burst out laughing shaking her pretty tomboyish head. , "You ignored me for like 10 whole minutes while I was talking about the utter importance of how to maintain the most natural lighting for filming in a studio." The girl tilted her head slightly as she giggled. "I am just wondering why you find the corner so… interesting?" Mischief danced in Sam's brown eyes. "Could it be that its not the corner, but the occupant?"

If Lara had felt like her face was hot before, it was now burning like the Sahara Desert at noon. "Sam!" She groaned, "come on, it's not…"

"…like that, I know." Sam finished for her with a dismissive hand gesture that spoke the complete opposite. "You say that every time. It's hardly my fault though you are drooling over Alex."

"I was not… dr… drooling over him." _Well, maybe a little. He's not bad looking and he's tall. However, he is so strange. Strange, go with that!_ "Besides," Lara continued quietly looking away from her roomie, "he's really strange."

"Strange?" Incredulous was the only accurate word for the shock on Sam's pleasant face. "Strange?!" Sam's voice was getting louder as Lara tried to shush her, sure, there weren't a lot of people in the bar, but they were now all looking at the two 19 year old best friends.

"What's strange?" A deep gruff voice startled the girls. Sam let out a squeak, why Lara's face broke into a broad smile at the rugged greying man next to them.

"Roth!" Lara came around the bar and gave the man a big hug, which he returned, his strong arms encasing her in warmth and the feeling of safety. "What a wonderful surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you until Saturday." She then saw the concern on his face and her heart clinched inside her in fear. "We are still going right? Dr. James Whitman didn't cancel did he?"

The man gave her a grim smile. "We're still on, well, as long as I can find us a new technician. Freddy Knox needed to go back to Scotland due to a family emergency. So if I can't find in three days we won't be going."

"Oh come on Roth!" Sam's mouth turned down in a pout, "we have to find someone; this adventure is WAY to cool to cancel. The lost treasures of Yamatai are waiting for us."

Despairing, Lara bit her bottom lip, disappointment fighting for control of her. Of course, she would not let it win but she was discouraged. This was her chance to follow her father's footsteps and it was slipping away from her like a ghost mocking her dreams. There was no way that Roth could have foreseen this happening, and she felt bad for poor Freddy, family emergencies were never good and she felt her heart sadden for the man rushing north at that moment. However, they would just need to find someone to take the technician's place somehow before Saturday's departure time.

The brilliant flash of white light and explosion of thunder happened instantaneously. Everyone gasped as the bar was plunged into complete darkness. Well, not complete darkness as the laptop in the corner was still running on battery power and Alex's face was lit even more as he stared up at them from his place in the booth.

"Damn!" Roth cursed, fumbling in his jacket pockets until he found his flashlight. As he turned it on, Lara and Sam both turned on their flashlight apps on their phones. Mr. Morris ambled over to them, as the lights hadn't turned back on. "Crackers, Ms. Lara. Seems like your breaker is duff!" He gently placed a 20 pound note down on the bar. "Have a good even' and I and the Missus be hoping to see ye pretty bonny face once ya get back from ye's adventures." He beamed down on her as he and his wife shuffled out of Nine Bells into the torrential rain as he held the black umbrella over his wife's head to keep her somewhat dry.

Roth weathered face turned to Lara, "Where is the breaker here, Lara?"

"I'm not sure, I would imagine somewhere in the back rooms would be my guess Roth." Lara shrugged wishing she was more knowledgeable.

Roth headed swiftly into the back. Lara and Sam stood next to each other as they waited impatiently. Sam groaned, "Seriously, this is just getting better and better. We might not get to go on our Awesome Adventure, but now I can't another margarita." She pouted at Lara, "You wouldn't be able to make me one by flashlight do you?"

"Of course she can!" causing both girls to turn as Alex walked up to them trying his best British accent. "Lara Croft is the most talented barmaid in all of London Town. Not only that, but her looks are smashin' enough to knock out the lights." He ended with a gentle chuckle. His voice was soft and strangely calming to Lara. ' _Great,'_ Lara thought frustrated, ' _just another thing that I can say is strange about him'._ Alex didn't seem to notice that Lara was engaged in her own thoughts as he continued this time in his normal American accent "Lara, do you know roughly when this building was created?"

"First, your British accent is terrible!" Lara laughed feeling already at ease and could not resist ribbing the young man. "Secondly, my looks aren't enough to cause lighting to strike buildings. That's just plain silly!"

Alex's blue eyes lit up as he feigned hurt clutching a hand to his chest dramatically. "Ms Croft, I'm deeply cut to the heart. My London brogue is awesome! As for the lighting," he laughed lightly, "they say it only is attracted to hot stuff."

Both girls groaned at the painful line and Lara rolled her eyes. "Alex," Sam stated straightforwardly in a dry humorless tone, "that must be the worst line I have ever heard. And I know crappy ones."

"Fine! Fine!" Alex laughed good naturally, "You girls win." He had raised his hands in mock surrender, as his eyes danced back to Lara's. "But about the building Lara?"

"Oh yeah," Lara's brow furled as she thought. "I think it was 1920s, it's a miracle it survived the bombing of London. I am not sure though. Why?" Alex walked over to the door and for a second the barmaid in Lara thought he was going to leave without paying. However, he just looked out the window in the door. "Well, it seems like our block is finely lit." He turned back to the girls and gesturing with this thumb over his should toward the stormy weather outside. "It might not be our inside breaker but the outside especially with how old the building is. If so, we'll need to go outside to get at it for any type of repairs."

Lara blushed again, here she went thinking he was going to leave without pay. Instead, he was going to try to help. ' _Damn it all Lara, you need to stop underestimating Alex. I need to focus on the task at hand.'_ Thankfully, Sam was on top of things and had started talking again.

"What do we need to do then Alex?" Her head slightly tilted as she analyzed the young man.

"Let me grab some tools and my coat." Grinning Alex replied as he headed towards his stuff in the dark corner where his laptop still eerily glowed with its blue-white light. He rummaged in his satchel obviously looking for something in the semi-darkness.

Sam watched Lara out of the corner of her dark eye, noticing how intently Lara who was focused again watching Alex. Because of that, she did not notice Sam lean over and teasingly whispered in her hear. "You should go with him. He might need _help_. Who knows, he might be able to help get your _box_ all heated up."

Lara blushed scarlet, rounding on Sam she hissed. "Stop it! I am not interested in Alex in the slightest. He is a giant nerd!"

"I hear they can be great in bed…" Sam whispered back mysteriously. "It's some of the best I have ever had and that's for sure!"

"Sam! We are NOT going to discuss this!" Lara scathingly replied as Alex was heading back toward them.

Having donned his leather jacket with his hood over his head, Alex gave them a shy grin. ' _He actually looks sheepish right now. What happened the confidence he had just a few minutes ago?'_

"Uh so, I'm an idiot," Alex began and then sighed. "My phone's dead. Could I borrow one of yours?"

Smiling at him, Lara could feel Sam's glaring at her. Basically nonverbaling yelling at her, _"Lara Croft, if you don't go with him you will be missing the opportunity of a life time!"_

"No worries Alex, I'll come with you." As soon as the words left her mouth, she heard Sam start snickering.

"Of course she'll _come_ with you Alex." Sam's voice heavily laden with the innuendo causing Lara to blush scarlet and start stammering. She was so grateful for the darkness but it wasn't enough to hid Alex's reddening face. As his wide eyes look away from them as he coughed out some words.

"Uhh… thanks Lara, I appreciate it. But you don't have to come… I mean help me. That is if you don't want to." ' _While this is awkward,'_ Lara thought, ' _at least he's cute when he is flustered, but I'm SO going to kill Sam when we get back to the apartment.'_

"No problem." She stated quickly before her erstwhile best friend could make things even more awkward. " I'll just grab my coat." Lana walked swiftly behind the bar fiercely praying that no one noticed that she was as flustered as Alex was.

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Piteously the rain had still not stopped and was coming down with angry forcefulness as the two of them headed out into it. Getting drenched was not something Lara really wanted, but she felt pretty sure neither did her companion. Who, unlike her, did not need to be doing this at all and yet had volunteered. Lara knew she had no reason to expect the young man to help, but she could not put into words how much she appreciated his willingness. She really had not known him all that long, and really never talked with him though he came every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to study in his corner. He was such a regular that Lara could generally predict to the minute when he would walk into the doors and head toward his corner after offering her a too brief smile. She had even gotten to the point of 'Reserving' the booth so people would not take his spot and had his favorite beer already poured. Not that she ever had told him that…

Still, even though she enjoyed having him there it was not his job yet he had volunteered to try to help. Alex really did not talk much as they diligently searched around the building until they found the old breaker box with is rusted hinges. Lara shined her light on target as the rain soaked through her thin coat, as he opened the box gently with great care and got to work.

Disaster… would be a poor choice of words as the condition of the box was greatly worse than the word could describe. Sparks flew around as Alex poked and prodded and eventually grounded the box. He just gave her a small smile as he settled on his knees getting to work with several tools he had pulled from his bag that she had never seen before. Lara was shivering and her teeth clattering painfully as time ticked by with nothing happening but the steady rain and Alex's low muttering to himself as he cut wires and reconnected them with an awful burning smell and smoke wisped around him. After what felt like a small eternity, an oxymoron Lara knew, before he had finally stopped tinkering with the breaker and then had stood up and looked her straight with his sapphire eyes serious. "Better step back, this could be pretty rough." He waited for her to move before he slightly exhaled and pulled the switch on again.

Nothing happened… beside the noise of the steady rain everything was calm and Lara's breathing sounded painfully loud to her ears.

Jumping in fright as her's phone buzzed loudly and suddenly in her pocket. Looking down she saw a text from Sam as her heart beat wildly causing her to clutch at it as she and Alex broke into laughter. Finally, her heart calming down as she pulled her phone and unlocked it so see what same had written.

Sam: _The lights are back on! Whatever you guys did worked. Please tell me there was some really hot and heavy action to get it going again! ;-)_

 _Groaning in frustration, Lara typed back quickly._

 _Me:_ _Glad to hear. No!_

Sam: _O come on! Nothing?! There's got to be more than you're telling me!_

Me: " _Sam…"_

Sam: " _Fine, Roth is back and wants to see you…"_

 _Sam:_ _"And your boyfriend. :P"_

Lara looked over her phone at Alex as he gave her a slight smile getting up after closing the breaker again and putting his tools back in his bag. "Did it work?"

Nodding, Lara turned toward the bar again.. "Lets get out of this rain."

"You don't have to ask me twice that's for sure." He laughed jogging through the cold dreary rain after her.

As they were walking back, Lara kept stealing sideways glances at him, she couldn't help it. Curiosity was too strong in her and she blamed that not only on her father but also on Roth. "So, Alex. You have been coming to Nine Bells for a couple of months and besides your name, I don't know too much about you. Why are you in London?"

Brushing his hand through his wet hair, Alex chuckled, "Education mostly, I am going to be an electrical engineer."

' _Damn! That's really cool._ ' Surprised Lara smiled more fully at him. "Why London?"

"Change of scenery, I was going to a school in the States and then I had an opportunity to come here for two years and finish my degree so I decided to take it. Always wanted to see London. What about you?"

She shrugged casually as she faced him. "Well, working at Nine Bells, but also going to school."

"Really? What's your poison?"

"Excuse me?" Lara eyebrows arched on her face as she looked at him perplexed.

Shaking his head at himself, he explained. "What are you studying?"

"Oh, archeology. I love the aspect of finding lost treasures of ancient past civilizations."

"That's pretty doggone cool! What got you interested in archeology?"

"My father did. You could say that it is a family business." Lara smiled mostly at just how much that was an understatement.

"So that gentleman was your father?"

"Who? Or you mean Roth? No, he took me in after my father died."

Instantly there was a very awkward pause broken only by distant thunder from the storm. Finally, by Alex spoke gently. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Tears started to come to Lara's eyes as she turned and saw through the downpour Alex looked actually sad. And not just for show either, she had seen the faux sympathy in others and it never really reached their eyes, but the twin sapphires held a genuine grief at her loss.

"Thank you. It's still hard. I would rather not talk about it please."

"Of course. Well, we should go in. They are probably wondering what has happened to us." Alex stated looking at her quickly before gesturing for her to enter the door first.

It was then that Lara noticed that they had been waiting at the very doorstep to Nine Bells for quite a while which caused her to blush fiercely. ' _It's just too easy talking with him. I hope that I will get more opportunities soon.'_ Lara laughed lightly, opened the door with its happy brass bell jingling merrily, and led the way inside.

Instantly Sam's voice greeted them laughing. "I don't know if I have ever seen two people that look more like drowned rats that you two." She turned to Roth continuing. "Roth, this is Alex. He is the EE I was telling you about earlier. He's pretty cool."

Lara glanced from Sam to Alex to notice he was blushing from the praise but trying to appear unaffected by it. ' _Hmm… handsome, good with his hands, kind, funny and humble. Quite an interesting person.'_

Sam continued with her monologue though. "He is SUPER smart, before he came here he was at Carnegie Mellon University and he's like, you know like, the _top_ of his class and he can hack like into almost anything." She was babbling excitedly and then she glanced at Lara, "Alex is also _really_ good with his hands." Lara blushed for what must have been the tenth time that night at the repeated innuendo Sam had used earlier on her, which Sam noticed before turning to Roth again. "He could be perfect for our technical needs on the Endurance!"

 _'What?'_ Lara thought frantically looking at each person in the group in confusion. She noticed though that only Roth and Sam didn't look confused. She and Alex were apparently out of the loop big time on this one. Before she or Alex could say anything Roth took over.

"Ever worked on a ship son?"

Lara didn't really know how it happened but in less than a half hour not only was the expedition still happening, but now Alex Weiss was going to go with them on the hunt for the isle of Yamatai in search of the tomb of Himiko.

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 **Thank you for reading! I just finished updating this chapter after so long and hopefully it makes more sense now. With a few less typos in it.**

 **Please R &R. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Shadowlord7**


	2. Prologue: Aboard a Boat err Ship!

**Hello! Thank you to all those who have read the Prologue Part 1 and left reviews. I greatly appreciate it. I am planning on having 3 Chapters of Prologue to allow for understanding of the characters and flush them out more.**

 **Howling2themoon: Glad you enjoy it. Hopefully you will like this next part as well. :)**

 **Guest: Like you, I really like Alex. There will be some differences to the original story. I mean this is fanfiction.**

 **Kit: I had never played a Tomb Raider before, so after trying the 2013 reboot I have found myself loving Tomb Raider. (went and got Rise as soon as I finished 2013)**

 **As always, I don't own Tomb Raider, blah blah blah…**

 **Enjoy.**

Prologue Part 2: The Open Sea

 _Land is the secure ground of home, the sea is like life, the outside, the unknown… Damn, there was no way that statement could be truer._ Leaning against the bulkhead, Lara licked her lips and tasted the salt. The Pacific Ocean was gorgeous today. Not a cloud in the sky, with a gentle wind blowing around as the Endurance relentlessly plowed its course though the blue green water. The next land that they should see would be the Philippines. Lara was ecstatic to be on this glorious adventure. So much great potential and Dr. James Whitman being actually with them was AMAZING. Well, the man had an outstanding record for being a remarkable archeologist, Alex had muttered quietly when he thought no one was listening that Dr. Whitman had "a greater ego then Steve Jobs, but the talent of an ass." Lara had barely been abe to contain her laughter. To say that she had been disappointed in her idol after meeting him would definitely be an understatement. The man was the definition of desperate and after they had lost their funding only to have Sam's family support, he had only gotten worse. This had to be his last shot since his show had been canceled. Yet, they had been frustratingly unlucky in finding Yamatai. Lara was leading more to it being closer to the Japanese isles, but Dr. Whitman was absolutely sure it was closer to China. So here they were, sailing northward everyone gazing out trying to find a small little island. According to the fables the Sun Queen Himiko herself dwelt on the island with her Stormguard. Apparently, Himiko had magical powers, like such a thing could exist.

Lara looked back to her notebook. All the research she had done just didn't make sense with their current trajectory. There was just no way they could be heading in the correct direction. The sound of boots on the metal rungs caught her attention as she turned and saw her friend climbing the ladder. Sam's short hair was a little messy from the wind, but despite the wind she had her portable camera in her hand. Sighing, Lara noticed that the red light was on. _Another stalkerish video coming up._

"And here is our archeologist hard at work. Using the peace and calm of the ocean to help her understand the ancient mindset of people. For what greater insight is there then the timeless ocean?" Sam continued panning the camera from Lara to the ocean and then back again. "But what great discovery is the beautiful Lara Croft working on right now? Has she discovered the lost land of Yamatai?" Lara playfully glared at Sam reaching for the camera, and Sam stepped back quickly putting some space between them and continued. "Find out next time!" Lowering the camera, Sam sighed, "You know Lara you can smile at the camera. It makes you look like 20 times better when you smile."

"I thought you said I was beautiful?" Lara smirked.

"You are, just imagine now if you smiled. The world would fall apart at your radiance."

Lara rolled her eyes, "Seriously Sam? What woman would want the world to fall apart because of their looks?"

Sam's eyes widened, "Like every woman in existence! We all want to be adored and worshipped. What's more, you have like everything guys like. Just the right height, beautiful eyes, long thick beautiful hair, a body like…"

"Enough Sam." Lara interrupted quickly. "I appreciate your candor, I don't care about that stuff. We are on the border of a great discovery. Who cares what we look like when we are about to discover Yamatai?"

"Me." Sam laughed. "I want to discover this, record it and look fabulous doing it!"

Lara joined her in laughing. It was crazy to think that in the 21st Century they were about to find something that no one else had found. Despite there being satellites in the sky, and besides there being world wars fought around here, the Isle of Yamatai was still reported as a myth. It was supposed to be, according to the legends, located in the Dragon's Triangle. However, they had been out on this expedition for over two weeks. An entire week just wandering around the pacific looking for this island to no avail.

The two women sat there looking out over the ocean. It was truly a beautiful sight, one that Lara realized she would never get tired of it. However, she was ready to touch land again.

Sam leaned against her, "You should have seen Reyes with Alex a half hour ago. It was so funny!"

"What happened? Did Reyes finally rip off his head?"

"Close… close, she showed him a picture of her daughter and poor Alex was trying to make progress with their friendship and just torpedoed it by saying her 'son' was cute." Sam giggled.

Lara groaned. "I am sure that went over just fine. Seriously, I feel like when it comes to Reyes, Alex just can't do anything right."

"Well, its kinda true. He gets along well with everyone but Dr. Whitman and Reyes. Jonah really likes him. They seem to really understand each other. Or maybe Alex just tolerates Jonah's overly 'teddy bear' mentality."

"I don't think he tolerates it. I think he just likes him. Alex is pretty open-minded about that sort of thing."

Alex had actually got along with everyone. Roth really liked him, but it was Grim who showed Alex everything on the ship. Alex would listen, and for someone like Grim that was all he needed to make someone his best friend. Grim would talk to Alex for hours about life, the ship, exploring, adventure and Alex would just listen. Sam and Lara thought he was just being polite to the old man until Alex had started to repeat things Grim had told him to them. Alex apparently had fortress of a mind and everything, _everything_ , Grim said he had remembered. Unfortunately, some of those things had been rather embarrassing to Lara. Many stories about a teenager Lara running around the ship getting into trouble. Alex had enjoyed teasing her about some of her antics until she had pushed him off the ship. _How was I to know that he couldn't swim? Who in the 21_ _st_ _Century doesn't know how to swim?_ They had both burst out laughing until Grim came out of the bridge and yelled that Alex couldn't swim, the panic that both girls felt was so immense that they both did what they normally do in stress. Sam froze, and Lana pulled off her heavy plaid shirt diving into the water. What made things so much worse was Alex kept _thanking_ her for saving him, instead of being super upset. Once they had gotten back on the Endurance, everyone crowded around wondering what happened. Alex was decidedly shaken, and everyone could see even though he threw back his shoulders and tried to look calm. _Near death experiences can do that to people. However, he's taking it better then can be expected considering I'm the one who pushed him in._ Roth was telling him how glad he was that he was okay but the way he looked at Lara told him that they would certainly be talking about this issue. Jonah whispered something in Alex's ear which caused him to blush scarlet red and look straight up into the sky as if it was the only thing in existence. Jonah continued until Alex hit him in the arm, _hard_. Jonah just laughed and went to find a towel for him. Everyone dispersed, and Sam and Lara had walked up to him.

"Well, that's what you get when you tease Lara I guess." Sam grinned.

Lara grimaced as Alex still wasn't looking at her. "Look Alex," she started only to be interrupted by Sam.

"You know. The worse thing about this? I wasn't able to get it on camera! I can't believe it! This would have been perfect." The other two gazed at her in disbelief.

"No!" Lara indigently cried, "The worst thing would have been him drowning."

"I concur." Alex softly stated. Lara glanced at him. He was still looking up at the sky. _Damn, and I'm the one who pushed him in. Now he wont even look at me._

"Of course, I wouldn't want him to die." Sam rolled her eyes at them. "However, you diving in to save him would have been so awesome to catch on camera. You know? That's something people would just eat up." Her voice just kept increasing in excitement and her eyes seemed to shimmer in delight. _Uh oh… this is not good…_ "We could add a storm in as a background, 'During terrible storm, a valuable member of the crew is swept overboard. Valiantly, another crewmember dives in to save him.' Could you just imagine how perfect that is?"

The three of them were standing near the railing, Alex with his back to the ocean and before Lara or he could react, Sam had jumped forward and shoved him hard. Lara's jaw hit the floor as she stared in horror at Sam who had jumped back and whipped out her video camera and was now filming her. All Lara could hear though was Alex cursing before he hit the water.

"Why would you do that!" Lara yelled at Sam as she turned back to the railing. _If Alex doesn't hate me already, this will have done it. God, I could kill Sam right now._ She quickly dived back into the water and swam over to Alex. Of course, he was willing to let her help him, but there was a coldness there that had nothing to do with the temperature of Pacific Ocean. Once they got back on board the Endurance by climbing up the ladder they came face to face with Sam who was still recording and running a commentary the entire time.

Lara turned to Alex, "Are you okay? I am so sorry about."

"I'm fine." Alex interrupted, turning away and walking stiffly further into the ship. "Thanks."

And with that he was gone. Sam shut off the camera with a huff. "He could have done a little better at the end. I will need to do some postproduction work on this, still a gold mine though of content."

Lara could feel a bubbling fury building up inside of her. _Seriously? Seriously!_ "Fuck you." She was surprised by how cold and distant her voice sounded despite how angry she was. "That was a cruel thing to do to Alex. I at least was ignorant to the fact he can't swim. But you, knowing and after the first trauma you go and do it again to him." Lara suddenly realized she had gotten into Sam's face and Sam looked scared. Lara relaxed slightly and sighed. "And you did it all for a bit of film…" She turned away and starting walking in the direction Alex had gone, only for Sam's voice to stop her. "I didn't mean it in an unkind way. I thought it would be fun… he's been such a good sport about stuff like this so far, I just didn't think it would matter. I'm sorry."

Turing back, Lara looked Sam in the eye. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too."

"What should I do?" Sam looked a little desperate.

A deep kind voice interrupted them causing both girls to turn and see Jonah standing there. "Little bird, give him some time. Near death experiences can impact people differently. Alex's is probably embarrassed he doesn't know how to swim, and you needed to 'save' him, Lara. Might have made it worse because it was you specifically." Jonah shrugged. "So, give him some time." He turned to walk away, but turned again and looked pointedly at Lara. "You might want change as well. Unless you want all the guys give you some… attention." He chuckled and ambled away.

Lara looked down and blushed. Her clothes were of course soaked and hugged her figure so that very little needed to be imagined. _O kill me now. Though now it makes sense why Alex wouldn't even look at me. He's too much of a gentleman to take that sort of advantage._ Sighing, Lara headed off leaving a chagrined Sam standing by herself. That was at least until she reopened her camera to watch her video. She had been right regardless, it was great footage.

…

Three days had past and Lara was now quite frustrated at Alex, Sam and herself. She had been having a great time with them whenever they hung out together, but since the 'incident' Alex would say about five consecutive words to her and then conveniently needed to be 'elsewhere'. As if to make it worse as well, he always _thanked_ her for what she did. But, he didn't open up to her like he was doing before. _And honestly… I miss him. He could make me laugh, and he was just fun to be around._ It didn't help that Sam was being even more annoying. Filming her while she studied and worked on where the Isle of Yamatai was. But after these three days she knew they were on the wrong track. Dr. Whitman was still stubborn, and Roth was getting grumping as was most of the crew. Reyes was definitely banging Roth, it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that. Alex mostly stayed with Jonah and Grim. Apparently, Alex had gotten quite good at poker and drinking hard whiskey which was a must if you were to endure hanging with Grim. The unrest though was getting to everyone. Lara knew that they needed to change their strategy, from her research Yamatai was most likely more east of their position. _Might as well talk to everyone in the bridge. Get this all over with._

Once she entered she was impressed everyone was talking in small groups and she saw Alex was sitting down with his laptop working his face a frown of concentration. She walked over to him. "Hey."

Alex looked up a frown still on his face, not really focusing on her. He shook his head quickly as if it could clear his head, and the frown turned into a small smile. "Hey back." He turned back to his computer.

"What are you working on?" Lara bit her lower lip thinking, _This is stupid!_ _Yet, I hope I'll get more then five words…_

"Well," Alex looked chagrined for a second, then looked like he made up his mind and continued resolutely. "I know I am not an _archeologist_ like you and Dr. Whitman, but I feel we are in the wrong place. Yamatai can't be located this far west, otherwise when the 7th Navy sailed for Japan in 1945 we would have come across it. Now if it was located at the south-east tip of the Japanese Isles, we might be closer. Just my thoughts anyway." He looked nervously at her. "What do you think about it?"

Lara frowned. _Dang that makes sense. Why hadn't I have thought of that?_ "I think you might be right Alex."

"Really?" Alex looked quite surprised. "You do?"

"Of course!" Lara laughed. "You put time and thought into this and it makes sense with what I was thinking. I also think we need to head further east."

The smile on Alex's face made Lara smile as well. "I'm glad we agree. Come here," he gestured for here to look at the laptop with him. He pointed at the screen as she walked to him and looked over his shoulder. The screen was split in two. One side, showed angry weather patterns, while the other was a list. "I think we need to head here." His finger swirling around the angriest section in the weather pattern. "From what I was able to get from S.O.S. signals there might be an island located somewhere around here. So far, I have found over ten of these S.O.S. signals in the last several years. This could be nothing, but might be worth checking out."

Lara turned her face toward Alex and looked him in the eye. Suddenly she realized how close they were to each other. Her lips suddenly felt really dry and she blushed as she realized she _liked_ being this close to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze, _Damn, there's more muscle here then a computer nerd should have._ Clearing her thoughts and her throat which hurt because it felt so dry suddenly. "I agree. Let's do it." She got up and walked over to Dr. Whitman and looked him in the eye.

"Dr. Whitman, I'm curious about how serious you are about this expedition."

Dr. Whitman looked shocked and he wasn't the only one. He threw his hands in the air. "Lara, how can you suggest that I am not serious about this expedition? It's not just Sam's family funding this, but I put my savings on the line too."

Reyes cut in, her dry emotionless voice stark contrast to the others. "We've all got some stake in this, the funding won't last forever Whitman."

"That is precisely why we should push east not west." Lara continued.

"No one believes that Yamatai is that far east. The books simply don't support it."

"Well," Sam chimed in, "the people that wrote those books never found Yamatai."

"I've talked to Roth about this, there is no point in following in other peoples footsteps Dr. Whitman."

"I refuse to bet my reputation on your hunch. I'm the lead archeologist here."

Grim grumbled. "And when were you the last in the field without a TV crew behind ye?"

"Thirty years experience, two PhD's, one in East Asia History, so why don't you just stick to boats Mr. Grim."

"Ship! Dr. Whitman. It's a ship. Don't need a PhD to know that." Roth started chuckling from his seat.

"Look, going east," Lara continued before Dr. Whitman could respond to Grim. "will take us directly into the Dragon's Triangle. That is where we need to go."

Jonah walked over and joined the conversation. "Lara, my little bird, I would follow you almost anywhere, but that place has a bad energy." _Trust Jonah to say something weird like that._

"Bad storms more like, makes the Bermuda Triangle look like Disneyworld. Sign me up." Alex chuckled nervously. _Trying to sound brave…_ Lara looked at him. _I think he is actually nervous though because of the footage he showed me earlier. It's not good._

Sighing she turned back to Whitman. "The stories about Queen Himiko say she could summon storms. Myths are usually based on some version of the truth. What if Yamatai was base somewhere in the Dragon's Triangle itself."

"Well look, this is the satellite imagery from inside the Dragon's Triangle." Alex turned his laptop around showing everyone the ugly red monstrosity on the screen.

Everyone was quiet for a second. "That doesn't look good." Sam said softly.

Grim stepped over glancing at the screen. "If it's wet I can sail on it." He patted Alex on the shoulder.

"Oh don't tell me you seriously considering…" Whitman look aggravated.

"Enough!" Roth interrupted. "Reyes is right, we don't have the funds to piss about. Its now or never! Lara is offering fresh ideas and a plan. I am the captain here and its my decision. We are going into the Dragon's Triangle."

"Why am I even here?" Whitman sighed as he turned and walked away.

Lara smiled at Roth. "Thanks." She whispered to which he gave her a tight grim smile.

"Lets just hope you are right. And Grim as well." He looked over at Alex's laptop screen again.

Jonah sighed sitting down next to Alex. "I don't feel like going somewhere with all that bad energy is a good idea, Hack."

Alex smiled. "Well, its are best shot at finding Yamatai. Don't worry, the worst thing that could happen is for us to get lost in a storm and have the boat sink with all aboard."

Grim sharply looked up. "Alex! Ya know it's a…"

"Ship? I know." Alex smirked at Grim. "Just wanted to get a rise out of you, old man."

Grim started chuckling. "Brave laddy, brave."

Lara couldn't help but smile as once again everyone, but Roth, relaxed. _Alex just knows them so well. Or he knows how to break up all the ice around everyone. We are getting tense._

"Anyway Lara," Grim turned to her. "Where should we start heading?"

 _If Himiko controlled storms then the best place would be where the storm is. Does that even make sense though? Head straight into a storm?_

"I think if we head towards the current storm," She pointed at the laptop again. "I think that could be the best starting point."

Reyes turned incredulously toward her. "Seriously? I am sorry, but I want to see my _daughter_ again." When she mentioned her daughter, she glared daggers at Alex, while he looked anywhere but at Reyes. _Damn. She still hasn't forgiven him about that._

"Well, it's a start." Grim said dryly. "Finding a gale won't be hard in the Dragon's triangle." He looked at Alex. "Com'n lad, bring that piece of witchcraft with ya to the helm. We gotta gale to find." He shuffled out with Alex on his heels. _Alex actually looks happy to be leaving. Maybe he's just afraid Reyes will maim him or something._

Roth stood up. "Let's do this. Reyes, meet me in my cabin I have a few things I want to discuss with you."

As the two left, Jonah still was shaking his head. Sam spoke up. "Come on Jonah. Nothing is going to go wrong out there. There is no evil spirit, or bad energy. We'll be fine. Nothing to worry about at all."

 **Thanks for reading. Please leave a review about what you think. I appreciate all feedback. This is the second part of the prologue and the last one will be focused one leading us into the actually island.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **ShadowLord7**


	3. Prologue: One Hell of a Storm

**Hello! Thank you to all those who have read this story so far. I appreciate you going on this adventure with me. This is the last chapter of prologue as our crew hits the storms of the waves.**

 **Some information on me. I generally work around 50-60 hours a week at my job. Most of my writing happens when I can't sleep at night. If I am making stupid grammar errors please let me know. I want you guys to enjoy this as much as I do.**

 **Kit: Glad you like the prologue. I want them to be more understandable. Their choices and sacrifices matter more when we know who they are. It makes them a little more human.**

 **Guest: I hope this update was soon enough for you. ;)**

 **I do not own Tomb Raider or its characters, IP or any of that Jazz…**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

Prologue Part 3: One Hell of a Storm

" _Sail for the storm…" Because that's a_ _ **brilliant**_ _idea. Why don't we take a ship in the middle of the pacific ocean toward a storm, which, gave off the same types of readings as a hurricane. What could possibly go wrong with that idea?_ Alex mused to himself as he and Grim sat piloting the Endurance towards the dark red circle that symbolized a really bad storm. The weirdest thing was the storm hadn't _moved_. Storms are supposed to move across the ocean, but not this one. It was in the same longitude and latitude for over a day. _It's so weird even Grim doesn't like it. Cap'n 'if its wet I can sail on it!'_ However, it was disconcerting, and Alex wished Jonah would stop talking about a 'bad energy'. It was making Alex starting believing in the unbelievable.Also, Sam kept talking about Himiko's magical powers and it sounded like Lara also believed in them too. Science though proved there was no such thing as magic. There was nothing in the world, which could not be explained through the power of scientific logic and process. _Damn! I really am just a big nerd._ Alex turned and looked out the starboard window. _A nerd who doesn't even know how to swim._ He shook his head, that had been SO embarrassing. What grown man didn't know how to swim? Answer? Alex Weiss, the nerdiest loser who sure, he could hack almost anything and fix almost any electrical problem in existence. Who had to see him in that utterly helpless state? Lara Croft, the coolest, hottest girl in the world who just happened to be a badass at everything she put her beautiful hands on. She was so confident, and unlike most, had the qualifications to be confident. It was like she could fail at anything. _Yeah, good luck even trying to impress her. Even all of your work trying to find Yamatai to impress her had failed as she had already come to the very conclusion before I did. I guess I should just give up now._ Alex shut his eyes and his mind against his will threw Lara face in front of him again. She was giving him one of those ridiculously cute smiles that she gave _everyone_ saying something about exploring the world and finding lost treasures. _I wish I was man enough for her. Then again, I don't know if any man is. Lara has this confidence that would make any man jealous._

"'Top daydreaming about Lara, laddy!" Grim's raspy voice cut in, with a not so gentle slap to the back of Alex's head. "Nothing good will come of it. If nothin' else, Roth'll cut ye balls off for makin' eyes at her. That's assumin' he don't keel haul ye." He chuckled as Alex's face blushed scarlet.

"I… I wasn't," Alex cleared his throat. "I wasn't daydreaming about Lara. I was thinking about the storm."

"Ye best be thinking of the storm of Roth's fury… more dangerous than any of God's old storms." Grim started laughing.

Shaking his head, Alex joined in the laughter good naturedly. "You're assuming that Lara would go with it, which I promise you wouldn't happen. There's no way she would think about me in that light."

Grim raised a grey wiry eyebrow. "Ye mean shagging?"

Alex starting coughing hard. He had lived in London enough to know what that meant. "Yes," he croaked out. "that's not going to happen."

" 'cause of ye side or 'ers?" Grim's eyes glowed a little as he hid his chuckles.

"Hers, I mean mine err, both!" Alex was beginning to wish he was anywhere else right now. Well, anywhere but with Lara. _There's only so much passive rejection a guy can take._

"Laddy, ye know I'm messin' with ye. Though, see does give ye them siren eyes…" Alex glared over at Grim, frustration evident in his face.

"She does absolutely no such thing… and if she did, isn't meeting sirens a _bad_ encounter?"

"Only the ending… only the ending lad." Grim gazed out over the ocean. "Getting to the end though lad, is something grand."

Alex just groaned and turned back to his laptop. _Grim's stories are normally good to okay, but I have a feeling that a story about Sirens might not be something I can handle right now._ Suddenly, his laptop pinged. Looking at the weather screen Alex felt his jaw drop. _Where the hell did the storm go?_ What had just moments ago been a terrible gale, was being displayed as absolute calm… according to the U.S. Air Force Satellite footage, which Roth had asked about how they had access to that… _somethings Roth really doesn't want to know the answer to his questions…_ there was no island there. Just perfectly smooth ocean. _That doesn't make sense though, the storm had been a 'Very Strong Typoon' according to the scaling factor of Japan. Winds of around 180 km/hr, which equates to,_ Alex closed his eyes briefly. _Just less than 112 mph._ He shook his head. _It is impossible for such a storm, Typoon, to just disappear._

Grim walked over, "So lad, whats going on our gale? Keepin' steady?"

"Yes, I think the island is in the same location, but the storm has stopped." Alex gave a halfhearted smile, "Which, could be a really good thing for us."

The two looked at each other for a bit and kept their darkening thought to themselves. Grim never thought there was such a think as superpowers, but as a naval captain, there was always some truths to the legends. Loch Ness is real for sure!

Alex laughed to himself. The screen was now showing complete calm and peace. _That sure can't be nature… I'll have to do some research about this tonight._

"When do you think we will get there?" Alex asked looking toward where Grim stood at the helm. "And by there, I mean where the storm was?"

Shrugging, Grim gazed over the ocean. "At our current pace we'll be there maybe roughly around midnight.

Alex nodded getting up. "Well, if there is nothing that you need me for I am going to head down and make my inspection of the ship. Make sure everything is working perfectly. Let me know if there's anything that I can do to help."

Grumbling Grim nodded not really paying attention, lost in his thoughts as Alex headed out the door and taking the ladder down. As he strode down towards his cabin, winding his way through the narrow passages, hearing the sounds of people talking, the banging of machinery and the constant hum that was a ship at sea. It had been quite the fun experience so far minus some of the more boring moments. And of course, almost drowning from water and embarrassment. Since then Roth had surprised him and had starting teaching him the basics of swimming. It wasn't much but enough, at least now he knew he wouldn't drown.

Smiling, Alex stepped into his cabin. He had tried to decorate it with some small items to make it feel more like home. Stuff from his D&D days playing from friends in his freshman year of university, a few text books for the upcoming year. A small picture of Kat and him from her graduation, she was off exploring the work now. He hadn't told anyone what his internship had been about but that he would be out of communication for the summer. _Of course, that is if we actually find Yamatai. If we don't, this whole experience will have been just a month long._

It had taken him a couple of weeks to get used to the rocking motion of the ship. Airplanes, no problem. Cars, no worries. Ships, dang seasickness had happened. New things did that to people. Experiences that they had never had until then and now they can check them off the bucket list. However, there was so much on his list, he was hoping to not be kicking any buckets soon…

…..

Lara was trying her damn hardest not to pay attention to Sam. Who, had been going on for over three hours about the _magical_ powers that Himiko possessed and how the _Sun Queen_ had been so powerful that she had forced not only Japan but China as well into cowering under her rule. Of course, Sam kept referring Himiko as her 'ancestor' though why anyone would what to be associated with a despot who, according to all the books and literature Dr. Whitman and Lara could find, would do some horrendous sacrifices and such things. Some books claimed that Himiko was a god and because of her divineness she had the right to rule all of the world. Some thought that this could be why all of the Japanese Emperors had claimed for themselves the 'Divine' attribute for the sake of keeping disobedient people in line. _Who would really risk angering a god?_ Lara had already put her music head buds in to try to drown out the constant chattering of Sam. Normally, she would not have minded, but there was only so much she could take. Suddenly she realized that everything was really quiet, _Peace on earth good will to men._ Closing her eyes Lara just enjoyed the peace, that was until she felt a shadow pass over her. Cracking open her eyes just for a moment she saw Sam was leaning over her. Both girls jumped back, Sam giving a little screech why Lara just panted.

"Sam!" Lara groaned once she got her heart from not racing so hard. "Why would you do that?"

Sam had a hand on her heart as she was taking deep breaths, "I asked you a question and you didn't answer so I asked you like three times before I had to stop because Alex walked by and"

"What does Alex have to do with this?" Lara asked, she could feel her eyebrows being raised as she looked over at Sam. Suddenly, eyes becoming large she realized what kind of question Sam might have asked.

"Oh, you know." Sam sat down at the desk again. "Like if you find him handsome, sexy, smart. That sort of stuff." Sam's eyes glittered her voice changing her tone to teasing. "In those categories, Alex has everything to do with it."

Groaning again Lara buried her face in pillow. _And here I thought things wouldn't get more awkward between Alex and I. Well, damn Sam and her ultimate desire to interfere in my life._ Sam starting laughing, "I am guess from you reaction you are either thoroughly annoyed with me, or you are thoroughly embarrassed by me."

"Annoyed… just annoyed." Lara gritted out. "There is nothing behind any of those things you were talking about."

"Really? That's too bad." Lara could almost swear there was some disappointment in Sam's voice.

"It's not. There is absolutely _nothing_ going on between me and Alex." Lara sighed. "Would you please leave me alone. I would like to get some rest before we arrive."

She heard Sam get up and walk towards the door. "Of course Lara, it is like 10 P.M. so we will leave you to it." _We?_ "Come on Alex, lets go find something to do." Lara's mind went into overdrive suddenly as she sprang up. _ALEX?_ And there Alex was, looking startled, panicked, but there seemed to be something a little sad hiding under his eyes. _I must be seeing things. Damn it all Sam! Why would you orchestrate something that neither of us would want again?_

Alex just laughed, turning away and looked like he was going to continue his walk down the corridor, but stopped to say. "Honestly, I agree with Lara, Sam. I think you should let your personal fantasies about this die." His eyes darted to Lara's and he smiled kindly. "Lara's got enough on her mind with out being annoyed about me. And," He turned to Sam. "seriously, look at me, you must be desperate to come up with fantasies about me!" He laughed again and slipped away. _Damn, slipped away is the perfect definition about this situation._

Lara glared at Sam. Angry, disappointed, vexed, sad, tired. _I think I should settle for tired otherwise I'll just hurt her feelings._ "Sam, I am really tired. Would you please leave?"

Sam nodded and got up feeling like a failure. So much work, so much effort. She had been trying to get them together for over three months only for it to fall apart. She had hoped when she had invited Alex into her and Lara's cabin it would have gone better then this. However, she was more disappointed in Alex's phrase of fantasies. It hit too close to home for her and well, she really wanted that fantasy to be a reality and she knew, _knew_ , that they would be perfect for each other. It wasn't for her, but for them. They just didn't realize it yet. Why couldn't Lara have just been paying attention? They would have had such a great time and now she would have to find something to do so Lara could sleep.

"Okay Lara, by the way, Alex said when he first stopped by that we are going to be arriving in around an hour. That's why he was here." Sam stepped out, but turned around. "He's right you know. Maybe I should just let people's happiness go and stop trying." She just walked away leaving a very grumpy Lara to fall back on her bed. _Ugh! At least they were almost there._

The answer would be before them soon. Either they would find Yamatai or they would be going home. They were out of funding and patience honestly. There wasn't much more they could do. Lara got up and looked at herself in the mirror. _I'm ready for this. Adventure, making a difference. Doing amazing things, ready for life to be extraordinary._ Of course, she had her hair in a pony tail, which Alex had proclaimed it was a signature look for her. Layered white and grey tank tops with her tan pants and dark brown boots. Her father had told her that a good pair of boots was an explorers best friend. They would never fail you and would be able to keep you going no matter what. Sighing she turned and climbed back up on her bunk. Putting in her ear buds she started listening to music again. No way she was going to sleep for long. Yamatai was an hour away.

…

Hour: 2300

The simultaneous roar of thunder and blinding flash of lighting startled Lara awake. _What the Hell?!_ Suddenly, the Endurance bucked and rolled throwing Lara out of the bunk onto the hard metal floor, her head slamming against it. Groaning Lara looked up from the floor to see the window covered with rain as another clap of thunder was loosed. It was nigh deafening, suddenly the ship alarm was going off full volume as she made her way from the floor to the door. Her vision seemed to be blurring and her headache was pounding in her head as she staggered to the corridor. Putting her hand to her head she felt something warm, wet and sticky. She pulled her hand away and noticed her fingertips were a darker red then normal. _Wait a second. Is that blood? Is that my blood?_ She could feel her heart picking up speed as she gazed at her hand, at her blood.

Breaking from her thoughts by a voice over the loud speakers. "This is Captain Roth. Abandon ship. I repeat abandon ship. The Endurance is sinking. Everyone needs to make it to the life boats immediately. I repeat abandon ship."

 _Sinking? How?_ Lara thought to herself as she staggered down the corridor. Suddenly she heard the sound of rushing water. _What the hell?_ Before she could think of anything to do, a wave of water came down the corridor, sweeping off her feet and caring her with it. Lara could focus on anything as her body kept hitting all sorts of different things. Suddenly she found herself at one of the hatch but no matter how much she tried to open it, it would not move. Panic was setting in as the water kept rising around her. _I don't want to die like this! This isn't right!_ She could see her life flash before her as she was startled by regret. She slammed her hands against the door but it wasn't opening. There was no way she could get out of this. _I am going to die._ The water was no over her head and she knew, she knew, only a few minutes and then it would be over.

Suddenly the hatch flew open as one of the crew hands. Pulled her out onto the deck. Gasping for air Lara saw what could be called the worst storm she had ever seen. Multiple fingers of lightening were dancing across the sky, striking the water and ship. The ran was coming down in sheets and as she turned she saw the unbelievable. The Endurance was being broken in two. She could see over a gap which was ever growing Roth standing there looking across at her and the crewman. He started gesturing for he to jump over. _He is insane! No one could make that jump. It's got to be nine meters easily._

"You've got to jump. You've got to try anyway." The man yelled in her ear, startling her. "We've got no other choice, this part is going down. Just time your jump with the swell to get the most height for your jump." Lara looked at him, _he's crazy, he is definitely crazy._

The man was watching something other then her, but then yelled again in her ear. "Go! Go now!"

 _Trust. Not something she normally did but this was definitely was not a normal time._ Lara started to run and to run as fast as she could on the wet slick deck. She reached the edge and jumped. In mid-air she realized two things. One, Roth was holding out his hand to grab hers. Second, Roth had _two_ right hands… She picked the one closer to his body and prayed she picked right. Luck was with her. She could feel Roth's firm grip on her hand, but no matter how hard they tried to hold on she could feel herself slipping.

"Roth!" Lara could feel the panic inside of her as her hand came free and she started to fall.

"LARA!" She could hear Roth's panic match her own.

"ROTH!" she scream before was plunged again into the dark depths of the ocean.

All she felt so scared as she swam in desperation only for the currents to sweep her away as if she was dust on the wind. She didn't see the plank until it was right in front of her and if she didn't already have a headache from lack of oxygen and slamming her head before, she got one more reason.

She came too still in the ocean, her lungs aching as she swam to the surface, the current was pushing her toward a large dark landmass in front of her and she pressed on until she crawled unto the wet sand. She started coughing up water as she collapsed onto the sand.

She could hear the sound of people yelling.

"This one is bleeding out. Put some pressure on the it." No one but Reyes had a voice like that.

"Come on, come on, breathe goddamn it!" Lara could feel her heart relax for a second. Only one guy could make swearing sound cute. _At least Alex made it!_

"I knew something like this would happen! Where the hell are we?" Dr. Whitman sounded like he was in some sort of shock.

Reyes was the voice of reason in the group anyway. "Come on Doctor! Help us out here!"

"Has anyone seen Lara?" Jonah's teddy bear of a voice broken in.

Lara pushed herself up to stand on her feet. "Jonah, Reyes, Alex! I'm here!" She looked up and around. All around her was wreckage, some of it was very, very old.

"Damnit!" She heard Alex's voice discouraged. "He's dead."

"ALEX! Down here!" Lara yelled again. "Down here!"

She could see Alex walk over to the edge of the dais they were on above her.

"Lara!" Alex was peering down at her but obviously couldn't see her.

"Alex! I'm here!" she heard the sound of feet on sand and as she turned she saw a fist smashing into her face. Her world went dark.

She was going from unconsciousness to conscious and then back again. She saw caves, as she was dragged by whoever had hit her. Her head was pounding as darkness took her again into its deep depths.

 **Well readers we have now reached the end of the prologue. I will try to update once a week.**

 **Please Read and Review. Let me know, how I can improve and let me know if you are enjoying it.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Shadowlord7**


	4. Chapter 1: The Cave

**Sorry for not updating last week. It was a crazy time and while I had this chapter mostly written, there was some difficulty in it for me. One problem and I would like your input on, is have Alex POV parts when Lara is not around. This was to try to give perspective into Alex and what was going on that we (the players) never saw. Because of this I had a hard time letting this chapter be posted. However, here is the next installment. As always, I don't own Tomb Raider, etc etc etc…**

 **On to Review Replies…**

 **Kit: Many thanks for your kindness and support! I know I missed the upload time so please forgive me. Hopefully this chapter will continue to be enjoyable for you. I know I could improve a lot. :P**

 **Jim: Glad you like it! As for the # of reviews, if you guys are enjoying the story its worth it to me. I had really low expectations on if anyone would like it because the game is 5 years old. Keep reading if you enjoy and let me know what I can do better! :)**

 **Guest: Sorry for not updating regularly, but don't worry. If I stopped only after the prologue that would definitely make me a douchebag… and I don't want to be that. ;)**

 **As always, please read and review. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and will reply to reviews in the following chapters. If I forget yours… yell at me in all caps…**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: The Cave**_

* * *

 _ **Drip…drip…drip…drip…**_

The sound of water falling from a great height into a pool was the first noise that Lara heard. Groaning as her head felt like an anvil a particularly enthusiastic blacksmith had been working on. She felt this heaviness in her head as if it was stuffy from a cold or flu. She cracked open her eyes only to see the strangest thing. _Fire falling from the ceiling? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever!_ She looked around slowing because any sudden movement caused her to wince as her head kept pounding. _Wait!_ Her eyes widened. _Am I dreaming? Impossible. My dreams generally don't hurt this much. My ankles feel like there is a vise on them and why cant I move my arms?_ Lara blinked the tiredness and the pain away. _No… I am very much awake. What's going on?_ She turned her head only for her hair to fall in her face. Shaking her head to free it of her own offending hair, she suddenly realized the truth. _I'm upside down? I am hanging!_ Lara started to really take in her surrounds.

There was cold dark stone all around her, though most was lit up by hundreds of candles and a bright fire roaring by one of the walls. She was tied up in some sort of burlap sack and was hanging by her feet. All around her were three other wrapped burlap sacks. There was no noise coming from them. Near the fire that was burning she saw that the wall was painted with some white substance, that picture what appeared to be flames around a solitary figure. Straight below her was a giant hole, which the bottom of looked to be around five meters down. There was rubble all over the place and this had to be the most unkept dwelling she had every seen. _Which is saying something… I rent with Sam._ Lara smiled to herself despite the terrible situation she was in until the horrible thought entered her mind. _Are my friends also in the burlap sacks? Is Alex here? Did Sam make it off the Endurance? What about Roth?_ Fear gripped at her throat and she felt she couldn't breathe. She closed her eyes willing herself to calm down, _Having a panic attack is not going to help with this situation. First off, find out if my friends are here._

Lara looked over at the closest burlap hanging sack. "Alex?" She rasped out, her throat protesting its use after such a long time of respite. _My voice doesn't even sound like me. Gods! How long have I been down here? Hours? Days? No matter, I must get out of here._ "Alex?" Her voice sounded better but still dry and rough. "Sam? Roth? Jonah? Reyes? Grim?"

 _ **Drip… drip… drip… drip…**_

That was her answer, nothing but the emptiness of the cave. Nothing but aloneness. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Help!"

 _ **Drip… drip… drip… drip…**_

 _Well,_ Lara thought to herself. _If all I am going to get is silence, then I need to get out of here. At least I know my friends aren't in the same fate as me._ She looked around at the burlap sacks. _Hopefully not a worse one though._ _How to get down though? I can't move my arms, or legs. I could…_ She turned her gaze on the fire.

 _No!_ The Rational Lara stated coldly and calmly, _that is a terrible idea._

 _How else are we going to get out?_ The Realistic Lara replied. _I have to get down to get out of here._

 _Putting yourself on fire is just stupid! You have no guarantee that this will work, also, you might just burn yourself to death before the burlap._

 _What else am I to do? Wait until whoever put me up here comes back?_

 _ **Drip… drip… drip… drip…**_

 _That's what I thought._ Realistic Lara started to sway her body, pushing against the burlap and ropes holding her. She started to sway and picked up momentum until she collided with the nearest 'bundle' between her and the flames. The sack quickly burst into flames showing two very concerning things. First, the flames must be extremely hot. Second, the burlap must be incredibly flammable. Lara gaped in horror as the sack burned the flames were so bright and suddenly the bottom of the sack burst open as the upper half of a skeleton body fell colliding with the platform below breaking it and falling the remaining distance.

"Shit!" Lara murmured as she looked around. So far, the flames had spread and if she was really going to go along with this she would need to suck it up and risk it all. _Time to do this now._

Again, she started to rock toward the flames next to her, _this is going to really hurt._ Lara hit the burning beam, but was not there long enough to catch fire to the burlap. _Not long enough, got to try again._ Lara closed her eyes as she felt the intense heat on her face as she came next to the beam again. She could feel the heat and burning. Looking up she saw that indeed; her senses had not been lying. Her legs were on fire and while the burlap was burning, it wasn't the only thing. Lara's painful cry could not help as the burning sensation started traveling up her legs. Lara gritted her teeth as each painful second dragged on. _I wonder if this is what Hell is supposed to be like._ Suddenly she felt the sense of falling. Lara's eyes snapped open as Realistic Lara projected into her mind a problem. _Now that we are falling. Have you thought about where we would go? Like where we are going to land?_ "NO!"

As she fell the five meters to the ground she tried to turn to land on her back instead of her neck. Suddenly, she felt what was like the most profound pain she had ever felt. _What is wrong with my leg?_ She looked down at her left thigh, what she saw was like nothing she had every imagined before. Sticking up through her thigh was about four inches of metal rebar. "O My God!" Lara stared in abject horror as her leg pulsed around the offending metal that was trying to be a new addition to her body. She leaned up to get a grip on the rebar, she prepared to pull it out. _Hold on,_ Lara thought to herself. _Once I pull this out I will need to have something to bandage this, so I don't bleed out._ She moved up her left foot up, down, rotating her ankle. _Okay, haven't cut my nerves, and it would seem like I didn't damage the bone. Lets just hope that I haven't pierced femoral artery. If so, there is nothing I can do._

Lara groaned, gritting her teeth as she slowing pulled the rebar out. She was about halfway before the pain was just too much. Her vision was starting to blur, and she realized, it was now of never… she yanked hard causing the rebar to move and the squishy slurping sound that accompanied the action made her want to just vomit. She suddenly felt the shooting pain subside as it was replaced with a dull ache. Leaning up again she pulled her grey tank top up, she ripped a strip of her white undershirt. Quickly she wrapped it over and around her thigh tightening it as she moaned because of the pain. She looked down at the red stain slowly growing on the white bandage. She noted that the stain was a dark red. _Good, means I didn't hit the artery._ She looked around, both wanting and not to get up and try to escape this horror. All around her were bones and all of them looked human. _What the hell is going on here. This is horrible._ Slowly she got up, testing her leg. While it hurt like crazy she realized she could walk. If hobbling could be called walking that is. She moved around, though she was trying to be careful of all the bones that littered the ground around her. She saw a crack in the walk and moved over to it. Sliding through she saw something ghastly, she bent over gagging and would have thrown up if she had anything in her stomach. She could feel the acid in her throat though as she turned back to the horror.

It was obviously a girl. Was being the key word. She had been hung by her hands and feet suspended before what was a ghostly shrine. There were candles everywhere and behind her painted on the wall was a white figure. It looked similar to a woman but almost more like the ghost of a woman. The girls skeleton wasn't very old as there was still quite a lot of rotting flesh still on her bones. She looked to be in her late teens.

 _Its like someone was sacrificing her to their gods._ Lara though as she approached the figure. _What sort of monsters would do this to someone?_ Lara looked over and saw in a container a torch. _Perfect! I'll take that._ She grabbed it and continued on, there was nothing she could do for that girl. Also, escape was still her highest priority. Besides the constant dripping that she could hear, she started to hear the roar of water.

"What is this place?

She moved on, but as she was moving she brushed against some buoys and she stumbled as they rattled creating a really load noise. "Shit! That was loud! I hope no one heard that."

She looked around and noticed that her path was blocked by some sort of barrier. "Looks like I could burn this down. Lara moved her torch and lit the pile, which surprisingly caught fire and burnt quickly. _Well that went a lot better then I thought it would._ Lara continued on, she slid through a tight crevice and which went through a sheet of water causing her torch to go out. "Oh damn it." Thankfully there was a blazer that she was able to reignite her torch.

 _Wow… this must be someone's storage shed._ There were tons of bottles filled with a bunchof strange color liquids but there was a way out. Again, something she would have to burn down. Lara moved over and was about to light the pile.

 _Hold it! Is that a gas barrel?_ Lara walked back slowly, trying to ignore the pain in her leg. _Not something I want to get close too._ Her gaze turned to the blazer. _I could just use that instead._

She walked over grabbing it and throwing it quickly toward the pile, and then quickly head behind a corner.

 _ **Drip… drip… drip… drip…**_

Lara looked over again, there was nothing. She could see that the flames were licking the barrel but nothing happened. _Damn it all._ Lara sighed in frustration. Looks like there isn't any gas in the barrel after all. She stood favoring her leg when the massive explosions knocked her onto her ass. Gasping, Lara could see all the gaping hole with what looked like a reinforced tunnel. She scrambled over to it and getting on her hands and knees she started going through the tunnel.

Suddenly, felt someone grab her by the legs and forcefully pulled her back. Screaming Lara rolled over kicking with all of her strength at the man. Lara noticed his unkept beard and hair and appearance.

"Let go!" Screamed Lara as she continued to kick at the man.

"Stand still, stop it!" He yelled grabbing at her.

Lara kicked his hands from her and scrambled deeper in. "Get off me!"

His voice followed desperately after her. "Come back! Come back!"

The tunnel roof gave way cutting off the man from Lara, as she crawled on her back away looking towards where the man had been just moments ago.

"I'm just trying to help you!"

"That was close." Lara panted to herself resting for a moment as her leg screamed at her for the sudden stress forced on it.

The man sounded like he was trying to reason with her. "Come on, I'm just trying to help you."

Lara turned grabbing her torch and starting to creep through the dark small tunnel. Realized just how lucky she had been. "Oh shit, that was close… come back!"

"Come back! Come…" the man's voice sounded further away now. _Must be the stone muffling he voice. I just need to keep moving. If I keep moving I will find a way out of here._ Lara could see water up ahead in the tunnel. _Mostlikely the reason why it was closed off, something collapsed or maybe it flooded in here._

"Come… just come back!" _No way in hell._ Lara thought as she continued moving. The floor of the tunnel was sloping down and she started to stand up in the water. It was beastly cold as it seeped through her clothes. She kept her face above the water, but was on her toes moving. The cold actually felt good to her leg as she continued.

The man's voice continued to haunt her, causing Lara to wonder if she was hearing it with her ears or if her mind was relieving it.

"I'm just trying to help you! Come on!" What was strange Lara thought was the man sounded genuine about it. Of course his opinions of helping her might not be the same as the rest of the worlds and Lara didn't have the time to find out if the man was honest or not. Something Alex had told her on the boat floated up to her mind. She pushed it aside though as she scrambled on her toes as she bobbed with her head barely over the water. She kept going until she found sure footing and climbed out. The tunnel lead her to a waterfall that as she passed through extinguished her torch.

She looked around in wonder. There was a pretty good stream flowing though but what she noticed the most was the wreaks. Airplanes boats and all sorts of things were littering the cave but mostly she noticed that the path down stream was blocked by a ton of wreckage. Though there were some gas containers there as well. She knew again that the torch would not be a good idea for how cause the explosion. _I need to find a way to light this._ Lara noticed that there was a cage like pulley system that was in the stream. _Kinda strange but whatever. If I got some debris on that I could get it onto the ramp that I would then be able to light it and send it into the barrier. What could possibly go wrong?_

 _Don't say that._ Realistic Lara replied. _I agree that this should work but don't wish trouble on yourself. It will just cause worse things to happen._

Lara sighed, _Time to get to work._

In total everything did work. Maybe a little to well. Well the explosion that rocked the cavern was massive and things that had been stationary for years if not decades there were suddenly allowed to be in motion. Things were falling from the ceiling crashing all around her as Lara hurriedly rushed through the hole she created only to have a lot of chaos for no reason. She kept running as the ceiling was collapsing in the tunnel she was hurriedly running though. Suddenly the floor gave out beneath her. "Shit!" Lara started sliding down crashing though piles of rubble until she landed on her hands and knees in the puddle of water. _Light! Natural light!_ Lara felt a thrill go through her as she saw the beautiful sight. She continued running no matter the aches and pains that were shooting through her body. The cavern was crumbling around her as she ran, Lara could feel the panic rising in her as she kept moving, jumping, dodging as she made her way closer and closer to the light. Suddenly the path in front of her fell half way. _Now or never!_ Lara through herself on her stomach as she crawled under the massive rock while she prayed it would fall and crush her.

Again, Lara suddenly felt something grab her painfully by the legs. _No! Not again._ She spun around kicking as she screamed at the hairy monster. "Let go, you bastard!"

He kept grabbing at her still yelling. "Help you!" Lara kicked him in the face and then through her torch in his face. The man screamed clutching at his face as Lara scrambled free and raced away. She looked over her shoulder to see the man disappear under the falling rock. All that was left was his arm stretched out. Lara gaged. "That was too close." She kept running, she saw the light high above her. But in front was a gorge that she realized she would have to jump it. She did, and made it she scrambled on all fours until as she climbed up until she was able to pull herself out of the mouth of the cave. Lara gasped as she collapsed on the ground groaning as she finally allowed herself a moment to relax. _You need to keep moving._

Lara raised her head rising to her feet despite the intense pain she was experiencing from her leg and body. She looked around, _I don't think I have seen a more beautiful sight in my life._ The ocean's waves crashed against the rocky coast and all around were wreaks some looked over three hundred years old. Lara could see storm clouds in the distance, but the sun still broke through warming Lara's face after all the time she had been in the damp caves. She looked around and noticed that there was over a path along the cliff side. As she turned and headed that way, she looked down. She felt happiness flood her being. There, on the beach, was a life boat. It looked identical to the lifeboats from the Endurance.

Lara looked around. "There is the lifeboat. But where are they? They must have gone inland. They probably needed shelter. Damn, I could use that right now." Lara followed the cliff and came to a beautiful waterfall directly in front of her. However, the only way across was on a very flimsy looking tree that had fallen across the gorge. "Okay, just take it slow and steady." Lara continued moving though the tree was rocking back and forth and Lara could feel her legs trembling as she continued. Suddenly losing her balance Lara feel onto the log. She gazed down at the death drop beneath her as she muttered to herself. "Oh God…" Slowly she crawled across on the long until she made it back to firm ground. She continued to run along the path it was amazing scenery, but she realized that everything around her could kill her. Not to mention the light rain was making her incredibly cold. How she kept moving no one would ever understand. The need to survive, to keep moving, to not die to some crappy island, to continue the life that she really wants. So she kept moving, kept living and kept surviving. She could feel herself pushing what really did she want anyway? Lara stopped leaning against the wall. She smiled to herself walking with a man, in between them was a little kid holding their hands and chatting. _I want what my parents had. Someday, maybe someday soon. However, I got to get to the others and get off this island._

She looked over and gaped in astonishment. There, hanging on the cliff in front of here was a giant airplane. _What did Alex call them again… Flying Fortress, that's an American bomber… must have crashed here when World War II was happening._ She gazed at the airplane for a while. _I'll have to cross over using the plane._

Easier said then done. By the time Lara had reached the other end she was sure that she would have a heart attack _._ As she continued on despite all she felt her leg starting to pain her with each step and from constantly falling her knees felt like they were reduced to bone grinding on bone. The worst though, was the deep cold. It penetrated her very soul, or so it seemed as she continued to move slowly. She stopped gazing in wonder. There before her was Sam's satchel, she ran over turning the bag over as she dumped its contents out. She stood up, yelling as loudly as she could. "Sam!" She turned back to the bag. "They must have come this way. Although, why would she have left her bag." She looked at the box of matches, the camera recorder. _Of course the bane of my existence would still survive._ Lastly, she saw the radio, grabbing it she turned it on. It's light blinked showing that it still had tons of battery left. _Lucky break for me._ She activated the radio. "Sam? Roth? Alex? Reyes? Can anyone hear me?" Lara stood up looking around. "I've got to find them." She saw where they had gone, but it was a long jump. _Got to try._ She ran and jumped, but as she sprang forward her injured leg gave out. Lara screamed as she fell sliding down until she landed coming to a stop amongst a bunch of bushes. Groaning she staggered to her feet. She looked at her leg. Only to see the dark stain on the bandages were growing. _Damn, I think I am bleeding again. Must have opened the wound during some of my falls._ She slowly hobbled along though the woods, _I have to find shelter or I will freeze to death out here._ She kept moving until she found an out cropping in the cliff as she made her way through. Stopping she let out a chopping laugh as she shivered. _An abandoned campsite._ She hurried over gathering a couple twigs and grasses as she kept working trying to get the fire started. She stopped as she coughed. The sound almost as painful as it was in actuality. _Water. I need water._ She got up and walked to the edge. She gathered some water in her hands and drank. She tried to ignore the metallic taste though in all honesty it was some of the best tasting water she had ever experienced. She turned back to the campsite and pulling out the matches she noted she only had five chances. _Lets hope the first one works._

Thankfully the first match was all she needed as she got the fire going and nurtured it to produce some heat. Lara relaxed and turned to looking at her bandages again. Retying it and making sure it wasn't infected. _So far so good. Hopefully I can find some medicine to make sure though._ Lara tucked her legs up despite the pain as she leaned against her knees. She looked at the radio wishing that someone would respond. That they crew would be alive, was her greatest hope at this point. Despite the pain and her hunger, she felt, she could slowly feel herself nodding off to sleep. Unfortunately, even sleep was avoiding her. _Oh, I wish had some food. Even a sandwich would be wonderful. Sandwich?_ Lara laughed to herself. _Oh Alex, I wish you were here._ Lara thought about the brief moment of happiness. _I wish I could go back to the moment._ Lara reached over to the camera. _Did Sam save it?_ Lara smiled. _It's Sam of course she saved it._

Lara turned on the camera and lost herself in the memory playing out before her.

* * *

They had been discussing the pain in the neck that Dr. Whitman was in the mess hall. Alex had just been working on his algorithm for some reason or other. Lara had just made herself a sandwich and was walking over to the table. Alex had just turned back to his computer and stated "Honestly Lara, there are very few things that a man won't do for what he loves. We care not for how much destruction, pain, suffering we must endure to ourselves or others to protect the ones, or things, we love." Alex looked her in the eye again smiling that easy grin of his as he laughed. "You could call it our greatest flaw."

"Doesn't sound like such a flaw to me." Lara smiled back perching on the table next to Alex's laptop. "Can you give me an example?" She took a bit from her sandwich and watched him. _He's fascinating to watch when he's thinking. It's like I can see the process of his mind. Which, I wish I understood in some… particular areas._

Alex had leaned back with his eyes staring at the ceiling. Slowly he drawled, "Well, consider one of the most amazing men in American history. Robert E. Lee, he loved his home state so much and his fellow southerners that he supported them. Fought for his state, in its right to have slavery, to own people." Alex sadly shook his head. "It's estimated that over six hundred thousand soldiers died in that war. A war that if Robert Lee hadn't been on the South's side would have ended very quickly." Alex turned gazed straight into Lara's eyes and continued. "How many would have been saved if Lee had loved his state just a little less?"

Lara just stared at Alex. He just shrugged to himself and continued. "He loved his state. How about an example closer to your home?" He grimaced. "Good old Henry VIII. He just wanted a male heir to his throne. So, he had six wives, two, potentially three, of them murdered for not granting them his heart's desire. He created his own church to allow for his excesses and in the end got what he wanted. Two girls and one boy. What happened? He died, and the Kingdom of England entered a bloody time of religious civil war. The boy died, the oldest died and the younger girl became one of the strongest queen's England has ever known. Yet, because of one man's passion for a legacy, his kingdom was through into chaos and thousands died."

Shallowing, Lara looked at the grief written on Alex's face. "And with our Dr. Whitman?"

Alex shook himself looking at his laptop again. "Well, I would say that Dr. Whitman loves… fame? the spotlight? renown?" He gazed at his program and sighed. "Yamatai is all he has left. From what I have heard his wife is divorcing him, his career is in shambles. Not sure what is left for him, but his name. His name, and Yamatai." Alex gazed at her sandwich, which lay forgotten on her lap. "However," Alex's eyes sparkled. "I must say that sandwich looks delicious. I must make myself one now." He got up and walked toward the refrigerator.

Lara jumped up eagerly, desperate to show she knew her way around a kitchen not just someone who knew about myths and old dead legends. "Let me make you one."

Smirking Alex body blocked her and as she tried to pass around him hip checked her. Gently knocking her against the island. "You mean in the common trope of 'get in the kitchen woman and make me a sandwich!' no thanks!" Alex started laughing at Lara's indignant face. "I've lived alone long enough to know how to make a sandwich."

Lara smirked back, grabbing her own sandwich and taking a massive bite. Moaning exaggeratedly for effect which it certainly had as Alex blushed red before turning to the fridge. "You don't know how _good_ my sandwiches are though." She could hear Alex muttering something to himself that she wished she could make out. Lara just started laughing as Alex tried to concentrate on getting the necessary items. She got up and quietly walked behind him got extremely close to his ear before moaning again. " _Oh SO GOOD!_ "

Alex stiffened, hands in the fridge as he pulled away from her turning his head slightly. He gave her one of the most disbelieving looks she had every seen on him. He looked like he was about to say something, opening his mouth but nothing came out. Lara giggled softly, thinking about the next teasing thing she could do to the poor engineer when…

"Ah come on guys!" Sam's voice called over shocking them both into action. Which, caused both of them to butt heads. Alex and Lara let out a collective groan. Lara rubbing her head as she glared at Sam, who just continued. "If you guys are going to get into _sexy_ _action_ you were supposed to tell me, so I could get it on film! Did you both read the Terms and Conditions?"

Lara could feel the anger rising in her, but was caught off guard by Alex grim and frustrated laugh. "Haha Sam! Just so you know, I _did_ read the Terms and Conditions. And the answer is no, you don't get the rights to my personal life in them."

Pouting Sam batted her eyes at him, for some reason making Lara get an angry hot feeling in her stomach. "Oh Alex, you know I only want what is best for you. It will help you relax, everyone is so stressed anyway."

Alex rolled his eyes as he walked over to his laptop. He picking it up he started to leave. Lara felt panic for a brief moment. "Wait Alex! What about your sandwich?"

"Sandwich?!" Sam starting to laugh. "That's the best code word you two could come up with?"

Lara blushed turning away, but looked back hearing Alex growl at Sam making back up. "Listen Sam, cut this shit up right now. I have had enough of your insinuations and innuendos." _Damn straight._ Lara thought. _Though from that growl I think he might be hanging out with Grim a little too much._ Although the thought made her smile. She knew Alex would never hurt Sam, always treating her like a little sister but Sam didn't know that. _And anyway. Sam does deserve some scaring out of acting like a hormonal teenager._

* * *

Lara closed off the video. Though she realized that she hadn't needed it to remember. That had happened only the day before the storm. Only a day before she had royally screwed up her friendship with Alex. Again, because of Alex. Lara sighed. It wasn't right, to put all the blame on Sam, but she did deserve a lot of it.

 _I should try to get some sleep._ Lara closed her eyes as the most restless sleep she had ever had took her into its dark embrace.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading. Please leave a review as you guys inspire me.**_

 _ **This chapter was really hard for me as there were a lot of things that I needed to sort out. Mostly, things were fixed by making the Rebar not pierce her side. I watched that scene over 10 times trying to find a way around it. I looked up Human Anatomy books and I realized Lara would be died in under an hour if that happened. (Which would be really bad fanfiction) So I changed it to her leg and it will impact her throughout the rest of the story.**_

 _ **Also, I needed to end this on a little less stressful note. Let me know what you all think. Look for the next chapter hopefully next Wednesday.**_


	5. Chapter 2:The Cost of Survival

**What is this? Two updates in the same week? Craziness! Hey everyone, I couldn't sleep last night so I typed this up to make due for not posting last week.** **Thanks to all who are continue reading this. I got some really good feedback from Kit and I agree. When I have any of the characters thinking in their minds I will have it in Italics and apostrophes. Example:** _'I wonder what they are thinking'_ **Hopefully that will make it easier to read for everyone's enjoyment. Let me know if that makes it easier or if you would rather have it in bold as well.** Example **:** _ **'I wonder what they are thinking.'**_

 **With that update… on to Review Replies**

 **Kit: I really struggled with that choice about Lara's injury, I'm glad that you are okay with it. :)**

 **DarthTroubleMaker: I can't give that type of spoiler… I guess you will just have to go on this journey with me. :) And I'll try to keep updates somewhat regular.**

 **As always, I don't own Tomb Raider, etc etc etc...**

 **R &R**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2: The Cost of Survival**_

The fire crackled gently as the others murmured. The forest had not been a welcoming place and besides the wolves that had constantly been attacking them, there hadn't been much other types of life. It was hard to recognize his own hands, covered in dirt and blood holding a Colt 1911. The gun had been a gift from Grim after the Endurance had been shipwrecked. Alex looked out into the woods, the last twenty-four hours had felt like an eternity to him. The constant howling of the wolves along with the freakish screams of some type of native bird constantly kept everyone on edge. Jonah was trying to cook some rabbit over the fire while Reyes was taking stock over what they currently had. Roth, Sam and Lara were still missing. Alex could feel his grip on the gun's handle tightening.

Frustrated, he got up from where he was sitting as he walked a few steps from the fire. Looking into the woods he sighed, the idea that Sam and Lara were out there in the dangerous environment galled him. Roth, he could take care of himself, but Sam? No way. She didn't have any survival skills to speak of. Lara though, she was a bad ass. If she hadn't died from the storm she would be okay. There didn't seem to be anything that Lara couldn't do.

Alex smiled to himself. _'Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I will see her again. Lara's not going to let some stupid island defeat her from finding Yamatai. Though,'_ Alex looked around again. _'this could be Yamatai. It's in the right spot, the storms would support it and all those wrecks we say would follow with stories and SOS signals I found.'_

Footsteps behind him, made Alex look over his shoulder. Nodding slightly with a smile Alex looked at Grim. The man had really taken Alex under his wing. Grim had showed Alex within the first few hours how to kill, skin and cook the few wildlife that they had scene. Not to mention, starting a fire, which, Alex already knew but wasn't going to argue about a refreshment course. Did Grim still rib him about it? Of course, but that was Grim. Altogether though, Alex knew Grim was worried about Roth. They still had a few of the other crewmembers but so many of them were missing. Thankfully for Grim and for everyone else, Reyes had taken the leadership role with Roth missing. She had a clear head on her shoulders but lacked the important quality of patience. Still, better her than the illustrious Dr. Whitman. Alex shook his head in frustration; there wasn't a more incompetent ass than James. The man had kept rambling about how this must be Yamatai and what a great discovery it was. The man had already filled have a notebook of useless writing and they had been here only a day. He hadn't given more than ten minutes to think about those who had been lost or were still missing.

Grim scoffed quietly next to him. "Still thinkin' 'bout them lasses?"

Alex nodded in reply as he kept looking into the forest. Grim shook his head sadly. "I worry 'bout 'em too. Lasses shouldn't go wandering off. Not 'em fault after all. Damn storm came out of nowhere."

"It wasn't your fault Grim." Alex looked at the grizzled old man. "No one could have predicted the ferocity of that storm. We are lucky you were at the helm; otherwise we might not have gotten off as lightly as we did."

The stubborn old man grunted and fiercely looked Alex in the eye. "It is my bloody fault." He muttered. "I swore, if it's wet I can sail on it. Now we got a bunch dead and missing. All 'cause I didn't see the blasted coast."

Reaching out his hand Alex rested on Grim's shoulder. "Crap happens Grim, I was with you when it happened. There was nothing that you, or I, could have done. Because of your skill we got most off the ship and with some weapons and provisions. What would we do if we didn't have guns?"

"Damn it all." Grim shrugged off Alex's hand. "We be missin' Lara. Lass has it hard 'nough without this disaster."

Though he didn't know what Grim was meaning, but he could guess. From what he had learned from Lara and others she had been orphaned quite young. Alex didn't know the details, mostly wanting to give Lara the time to tell him herself. Others had offered to tell him, but he had declined. He wanted Lara to be comfortable with him enough to share those with him and until then he would wait.

Grim started to move away but stopped, grabbing Alex's hand. "Did ya hear that?"

Alex froze, one hand drawing his 1911 while he looked out into the forest, besides the constant sound of rain he noticed that the wolves had stopped howling. "I don't hear anything."

"Ich, that's the point lad. It's too quite." Grim pulled his pistol out as well backing up toward the rest of the group.

Reyes looked up as she noticed Grim motioning for everyone one to be ready. "What is it Grim?"

Before anyone could reply an arrow flew out of the darkness landing next to Reyes. Chaos instantly reigned over the small campfire as arrows starting flying from the woods.

"Put the damn fire out! It's lights going to show them where we are!" One of the crewmen let out a strangled cry.

Alex looked over to see an arrow protruding from the man's chest. Jumping over to the fire, he kicked it with all of his strength. The embers scattered everywhere, making the campground plunge into darkness. Alex immediately couched down making himself the smallest target possible. There were yells coming from the woods, but the dim light made even seeing his friends hard.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the forest, which caused several of his friends to open fire into the forest. Alex could see the shape of a man holding something flaming in his hand.

"Grenade!" Reyes yelled as the group scattered moments before the flying projectile landed in campsite.

Scrambling into the woods, Alex watched in horror as the grenade went off in a burst of flames. Everyone had disappeared into the darkness as Alex slowly moved further into the safety of the darkness. However, it was just as dangerous. Sure, whoever had attacked them couldn't see him; but that worked both ways. He could not see them as well. Alex could feel the sweat mixing with the cold rain running down his face as he moved further into the woods. He could still hear yells and screams in the woods as he moved away. The problem would be if he saw someone, there was no guarantee that he should shot them. The horrible idea about shooting one of his friends caused him to shiver as he kept moving until he found an outcropping that protected him from the rain.

He stopped for a moment taking off his glasses and trying to dry the moisture from them. Putting them back on he crouched down noticing a torch light ahead of him in the woods. He slid out his pistol again and switched off the safety. Keeping his calm despite his racing heartbeat, which sounded like a drum in his chest, he slowly moved toward the figure. He could see the man was searching the woods and he could tell that there was a handgun in the person's hand. From the light, the person was sporting an upkept beard, beanie and was bundled up in a heavy coat. Also, strapped to his back was a bow and quiver of arrows. Alex moved behind him and raised his gun. Before he could fire he heard a branch snap behind him.

' _Damn!'_ Alex spun around before being hit in the face. His glasses flew off landing somewhere nearby as he looked up to see the shape of a burly man coming down on him. Alex could feel himself tensing as he pulled the trigger.

The explosion rocked the night startling him as the .45 caliber handgun went off. The man screamed something foul in another language as he grabbed his stomach. Alex stared in horror, but as the man started to move toward him again, he raised the gun and fired again. His attacker fell backward wheezing, raising himself on his elbows Alex stared as the man's life left him in just a few seconds. Alex could barely make out the man's face as he breathed his last. _'What the hell have I done?'_ Alex gazed at the man dying there. _'I killed him? I killed him!'_

"Don't move you cocksucker!" A raspy voice stated behind him heatedly. "Or I will blast your fuckin' head off."

' _Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!'_ Alex froze and berated himself. _'Why did I not remember that there was another one.'_ Alex held as still as could be. He could see around him because of the torchlight the second man was holding.

"Put the gun on the ground."

' _Well, this is how it ends I guess… wish I had done somethings differently now.'_ Alex placed his gun down slowly as he did though he noticed his glasses and right next to them was a rock. ' _Wait a second…'_

The man shifted. "Drop the gun, get up and turn around." He watched as his prisoner threw the gun into the bushes. "Shit! I told you to drop it. Not throw it away. Those damn things are valuable!" He stepped forward hitting the boy on the back of the head. "Get up!"

The boy got up looking over his shoulder, "Okay, now what?"

"Shut it! Turn around and don't try anything funny." He watched the boy take a deep breath and turn around toward him. "What the Hell!" The man recognized what was obviously a gun. As the boy ducked and jumped to the right. Two gunshots went off almost at the same time followed by a third as the man felt a sharp pain in his chest as his arm went slack. He felt himself falling as he tried to point his gun again at the boy.

Alex looked down at the man, as he breathed hard. The man was dying that was for sure. Alex was pretty sure he had hit the man in the lungs when he had turned around. _'Better end his life mercifully instead of drawing it out.'_ He stepped over to the man, and bent down ripping the handgun from the dying man's hands. Sadly, looking down at the man, Alex raised his gun. "I'm sorry." He fired before the man could say anything. Alex couched down and watched the man breathe his last.

 _'Guess J.K. Rowling got it right after all. Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.'_ Alex could feel the bile rising in his throat, but he swallowed it. _'It was them or me. It is what it takes to survive, right? Though, I wonder if this is how it starts for everyone? Believing they had no choice and so rationalize it to themselves.'_ He looked away, the blood and the smell making him nauseous. Getting up he walked over into the bushes and vomited. Wiping his mouth, he returned to the two corpses. _'I wonder if they had families… best not to think that way though.'_ He looked at them more closely, _'I should check them for ammo and anything useful.'_ The thought disgusted him, but he knew it was necessary.

He rooted through their pockets and found ammo, a lighter, several strips of some kind of jerky, and cloth bandages. He pulled off the satchel one of them was carrying. _'Guess I could use this to carry all these items in this.'_ He kept working until he came to the bow and arrows. _'Never could use a bow, no reason to carry this with me.'_ Leaving the bow, Alex got up. He looked around trying to decide where he should go from here. The forest was all around him and everything had gotten very quiet. _'I should try to backtrack. Hopefully, I'll run into someone from the Endurance. I hope they made it out of the ambush.'_ Alex started moving lost in his thoughts, but he kept his gun out. Though he had taken both of the other guns tucking them into his bag. As he moved he felt something hot and wet on his right elbow. Looking down with the lighter he saw that he had been grazed. _'That explains the pain then...'_ He inspected it quickly seeing that there was really nothing to worry about. The bullet must have just barely grazed him. Quickly he pulled out one of the confiscated bandages and wrapped it around his upper arm. He nodded in satisfaction _'Job well done.'_

A slight noise caught his attention, squatting down in the brush he waited. It happened again to his right, looking over there he didn't see anything in the darkness.

"This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance. We are shipwrecked on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle." Alex stared at his hip before quickly grabbing his radio. That was the strange noise. Someone activating their radio. Before he could respond he heard the sweetest sound. _'Lara!'_

"Roth!"

"Lara!" The surprise and joy in Roth's voice echoed through the radio.

"You're alive!"

"Easy, easy. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I remember the beach… then it went black and I woke up in a cave…" Lara's voice starting breaking. "There was this crazy man, Roth… and a dead body." Alex couldn't ever remember Lara sounding so shaken and scared. He could feel something awakening in him as he looked back. He could still make out the two corpses. _'Bastards…'_

"Oh god… Where are you now Lara? Are you safe?"

"It was so horrible. It's all my fault. This is all my fault…" Lara sounded like she was crying.

"Lara! Listen to me. I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her. Hopefully someone caught it. I've spoken to some of the others. We're regrouping at my location."

"Please come and get me…" Lara pleaded.

There was a pause in on the radio. "I have to stay here. You can do this, Lara. Remember when we climbed Snowden? You said the key was knowing that all you've got to do is just keep moving."

"Keep moving…" Lara echoed.

"Remember everything I've taught you Lara. You're ready for this. And remember to keep your radio on."

"Okay. But Roth…" Lara's voice broke again ever so slightly. _'Must be the radio connections bad.'_ Alex thought to himself. "Has anyone seen Alex?"

Alex activated his radio speaking into it hurriedly, "I'm right here Lara!"

"He was with the others. But they were attacked by some group of people. They haven't found him… I'm sorry Lara." Roth's gruff voice softened at the end.

"Do you think…"

"I'm right here!" Alex yelled into his radio, for some reason it must not be working correctly.

"… that Alex is dead?" Roth finished for Lara. "It's possible Lara, but don't think that way. Nothing you can do about. Just keep moving and get to me."

Lara sighed into the radio. "Okay…"

The radio went silent…

Sighing in frustration, Alex started moving again. It was aggravating to know what was going on and not being able to say anything. _'The only really good thing from this is that I know that Lara is alive! Roth as well of course. Though,'_ Alex frowned to himself. _'Roth didn't say where his position was… How am I and Lara going to meet with him if we don't know where that is?'_ He shook his head and kept moving. _'Guess I will follow their advice and just keep moving.'_

And so, he did… wandering through the woods until he came across what looked like an old World War II bunker. Grabbing the handle of the door he gave it a firm pull. It turned out to be a lot heavier then it looked but he pried it open enough to slide through. He entered the darkness, he lit his lighter and saw a torch. _'Halleluiah!'_ He lit the torch and looked around. There was this incredibly creepy vibe to the building. There was a ladder going down in the deeps. Alex just shrugged, _'Got to go down there I guess.'_ He climbed down and continued though what felt and smelled like sewage.

"Damn, I really like this shirt." Alex groaned as he continued. There was rubble floating in the water and after going down the hallway, he noticed lights and a bunch of human and animal skulls. _'This place is so disgusting.'_ he looked around noticing writing on the walls and a small shrine. Hanging from the ceiling was a ton of meat which, hopefully, was from deer. He kept looking around trying to determine what was so special about this room. He wandered over to a door.

' _This is a weird door placement.'_ He grabbed the door and slowly forced it open. On the table was a slap of meat with a crude pick stuck in it. Over on the side was an old record player. _'Holy Crap! I haven't seen one of these in a really long time.'_ Alex looked closely at it. _'Wonder if it still work?'_ He messed with the record player and before long the creepiest music that he had ever heard started playing. He backed away quickly. While, Alex wouldn't say he was coward; he was certainly feeling like one. _'Keep moving!'_ The crying, no wailing music followed him as he quickly left the room and hurried down what he hoped was the exit. He found another ladder and took it up. He made it up the end of it and saw a fire up ahead.

Alex drew his gun so quickly he impressed himself. As he slowly made his way up, to the campfires edge, he looked carefully not wanting to run into more savages for lack of a better term. He hid behind a tree and watched. There was an older man, maybe in his fifties but he had a crutch.

' _I don't know though. Something doesn't feel right about him. I don't know if he really needs that crutch. He looks pretty good for a cripple. Not to mention looking so calm being alone out here in the woods with lunatics running around shooting people.'_

Alex could feel himself debating, go ahead and shoot the man or just keep going. So far, he hadn't met anyone who was friendly on this island and he really didn't want to kill the man though. _'Just keep moving I guess.'_ And so he did…

* * *

...a while ago...

* * *

Lara snapped awake, looking around. Her fire had died down and she was still cold, but she could have sworn that she heard a gunshot. Suddenly, there was another shot. Lara gasped, the gunfire was happening down in the forest below her location. Peering into the night she could make out what looked like a faint golden light in the distance. A couple minutes passed by where nothing seemed to happen and then two or three shots broke the nights peace. Lara quickly kicked her fire out and waited. Finally, there came another gunshot and then absolute quietness descended. The light out there in the forest was still lit but soon that also went out. "Damn it all." Lara whispered to herself. "What's going on here in this bloody island."

Suddenly, her radio crackled to life.

"This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance. We are shipwrecked on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle." Lara stared the radio, grabbing it quickly and activated it.

"Roth!"

"Lara!" The surprise and joy in Roth's voice echoed through the radio.

"You're alive!" Lara could feel herself shaking in relief.

"Easy, easy. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I remember the beach… then it went black and I woke up in a cave…" Lara's voice starting breaking. As memories started flooding her mind. "There was this crazy man, Roth… and a dead body." Images of the dead girl floating before as she thought about it.

"Oh god… Where are you now Lara? Are you safe?"

"It was so horrible. It's all my fault. This is all my fault…" Lara started crying brokenly.

"Lara! Listen to me. I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her. Hopefully someone caught it. I've spoken to some of the others. We're regrouping at my location."

"Please come and get me…" Lara pleaded. _'I can't do this alone.'_ She felt like a little girl again. Asking her father to come comfort her after a terrible nightmare.

There was a pause in on the radio. "I have to stay here. You can do this, Lara. Remember when we climbed Snowden? You said the key was knowing that all you've got to do is just keep moving."

"Keep moving…" Lara echoed. She thought back, that had been such a difficult hike. But in the end both she and Roth had made it safely.

"Remember everything I've taught you Lara. You're ready for this. And remember to keep your radio on."

"Okay. But Roth…" Lara's voice broke again ever so slightly. _'What about the others? What about Alex. He made it to the beach at least. Gods, I hope he's okay.'_ She continued talking in her radio. "Has anyone seen Alex?"

…

The pause seemed to last too long. _'No! Please god no!'_

"He was with the others. But they were attacked by some group of people... They haven't found him… I'm sorry Lara." Roth's gruff voice softened at the end. _'I've got to know. But I really don't want to know…'_

"Do you think…" Lara hesitated still not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.

"…that Alex is dead?" Roth finished for Lara. "It's possible Lara, but don't think that way. Nothing you can do about. Just keep moving and get to me."

Lara sighed into the radio, she knew that no matter what she had to focus now on getting to Roth. "Okay…"

Getting to her feet, Lara turned down the path. She made it to the forest floor when her stomach started protesting. _'I need to find something to eat. I haven't eaten in a while. However, if I am going to hunt I need a weapon.'_ Lara looked and wondered around. She stopped in horror. In front of her was what she had heard before. The gunshots made a lot more sense given the two corpses in front of her. She tried not to look at the blood, but it was really hard. It almost looked like the two men had shot each other except that there were no guns anywhere. Lara's eyes rested on the bow around one of the dead men. He had been shot several times and there was a look of horror on his face. However, it was strange. Both of their eyes were closed. They looked really rough, like they had been living extremely hard lives. What happened to them she was not sure, however, she knew she needed the bow. It looked fairly well made and with the arrows she knew that she would be able to hunt. Gently she pulled the bow and arrow quiver off the man's stiff body and put it on herself.

"Sorry," She said quietly looking at the man. "I need this more than you now. Please forgive me." She started walking away testing the string of the bow. "Let's see if this thing still works." Lara started remembering what Roth had told her years ago when he had trained her in archery. She murmured out the old statement.

"You can have the best form and technique in the world, but it won't mean a thing if you can't focus. The key to using any weapon is focus."

Lara started to move when she felt herself kick something. Looking down, she felt her heart stop. She bent down quickly and picked up the pair of glasses. _'These are Alex's, what are they doing here?'_ Lara looked around desperately. _'Was he here? Why is there blood on these?'_ Lara could feel the panic rising inside of her. _'Is this his blood?'_

A loud grumbling mixed with pain drew Lara's attention. Her stomach was convinced that she was going to die if she didn't eat anything. She put Alex's glasses into her back pocket, _'I'll keep these for Alex. Hopefully, I will get to give them back to him at some point. I always wondered while he wears them. He looks better without them anyway.'_ Lara grinned to herself. _'Maybe I won't give them back to him.'_ Though suddenly the terrible thought entered her mind again. _'He might not need them anymore.'_ She felt herself touching her back pocket which held the glasses. She desperately hoped that he was okay, that he was alive. If not her hand went to her necklace, _'If Alex is… is dead. Then I at least have his glasses for a keepsake.'_ She felt like crying, so much in her life had been messed with, though in this case it felt so much worse. Her mother had died first and then her father had. Now… it felt so much worse knowing that it was her fault that Alex was even there. _'Well, Sam's and my fault. Sam convinced Roth and I talked Alex into it. He would be safe if not for me.'_

Lara shook her head trying to banish the thoughts. "Alex would never place this blame on me." Lara stated aloud, her thoughts retreating into the darkness. "He would want me to go on. To survive. No matter if he is alive or not. Dying of hunger or in the woods like these guys won't make his or my difficulties any better."

Lara kept moving on trying to focus on hunting and not on the war in her mind. The worry about Alex was not the only thing gnawing at her. Her stomach also kept its constant pressure on her to make her get food. She stopped on seeing a buck standing in the middle of the clearing ahead of her. Slowly, she pulled out an arrow and fitted it to the string. She drew it back and focused on her target. Letting the arrow fly, it struck the deer just where she wanted it to; the lungs. The deer jumped in shock and pain as it took a few weak steps before it collapsed on the forest floor. Lara walked over to the poor creature as it panted out its last breathes.

Kneeling beside it she looked at the deer. "I'm so sorry." She just stared at the majestic animal while it was dying. _'I guess this is the cost of survival.'_ Lara could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, as she pulled out another arrow and performed the killing blow. Lara shut her eyes and just breathed for a few moments. _'I just killed this poor animal. For a few pounds of meat. It's not like I can use all of it anyway.'_ Lara shook her head and wondered if she was cut out for this survival. She opened her eyes and got to work again. Pulling out a couple pieces of meat she realized that she would need to get cooking these. There was no way she was going to eat raw meat.

"I'll need to cook this up." She muttered, "Guess time to back track to the campsite to cook this." She hurried off grabbing a couple of sticks to use for the cooking spit. Upon reaching the campsite on the cliff edge she quickly made herself a fire and starting cooking. She felt a little sad that she had nothing to season the meat with, but it was that or starve. Over a half hour of slowly cooking the meat over the fire she realized that she was salivating to the smell of the cooking food. Unable to wait, she used an arrow to slice a thick piece of meat off and at the semi cooked food. She did that another two times before the rest was cooked enough and she was able to eat it all quickly. The meat felt like a rock in her stomach but at least she had something inside of her. By her reckoning, it had almost been a full day since they had crashed. From the stars it was probably around four in the morning. The sun would rise soon and she needed to get to Roth quickly. Already, she had spent too much time hunting and making the food.

She got up and started moving. As she started coming down the hillside into the forest she started to hear this creepy ass music being played. Looking around see saw what looked like an old bunker the door was slightly ajar. _'Looks like someone fit tightly through here.'_ Lara bent down looking at a small blood stain on the door. _'Injured too.'_ Still the eerie music played from inside. _'Well, why not? Got to keep moving anyway.'_ Lara shrugged to herself and squeezed through. The main room looked pretty abandoned except for a torch that was lit by a ladder leading further down. _'Nothing stopping me. So far so good.'_

Lara grabbed the torch and threw it down the ladder. It wasn't very far before it landed on the ground. Slowly lowering herself since her leg started to ache again, she climbed down to the torch and picked it up. The tunnel led through some nasty looking water but besides that everything was calm. _'Beside the damn music that is.'_ Lara pulled out her bow and slowly proceeded toward the noise. She could make out what looked like giant pieces of meat hanging from the ceiling and… _'Ugh! Why would anyone decorate their home with human skulls?'_ Lara could feel herself starting to gag, but continued into the room. Inside there was a sectional room with a door tightly shut. Lara could tell the music was coming from in there. Determined to free herself of its haunting song, she did the best thing she could think of. She used the torch to light the rubble making a way open. Once inside she saw what looked like a crude ice pick. Ripping it from the hunk of flesh it was embedded in she turned and smashed the record player over five times until no noise was coming from it.

Sighing is blissful happiness, Lara put the pick in her belt. She looked over at the table and there was a small chest there. Curiosity getting the better of her she opened it. Lara laughed out loud to herself. Inside was a Hannya Mask, looking it over she remembered everything she could from her studies. _'Hannya Masks are generally a tradition noh mask representing a hateful woman in the guise of a demon.'_ She turned it over and looked in the back noticing spots of white paint on the inside. _'this must have belonged to nobility. The white makeup that they wear wore off onto this mask. Well,'_ Lara opened Sam's satchel and put the mask in. _'I must keep this for when we get out of here… if we get out of here.'_

Leaving Lara went down another tunnel with more disgusting water until she came to a ladder. _'I feel like this is Jacob's ladder leading me up to heaven.'_ Lara thought jovially to herself. _'Anything is heaven compared to this place.'_ She climbed up the ladder and found herself looking again into the forest. Instantly though she heard voices. She quickly put out her torch and starting creeping toward the firelight she could seen may be thirty meters ahead of her.

As she got closer she could make out the voices more.

"Hold on, let me find out." The voice sounded very familiar. _'Sam? I think that's Sam!'_

However, Sam was replied to by an older male voice that Lara didn't recognize. "We're on the southwest side. They'll need to follow the path… it's a bit of a climb."

Lara started moving as silently as she could toward the voices.

"Did you get that?" Sam said, though it didn't sound like she was talking to the man with her.

"Got it!" Reyes voice came through the dim light. _'Sam's talking to them on the radio, that makes more sense now.'_ Lara thought to herself as she sneaked up the stone stairs before her.

"We have a fire. Look for the smoke."

"We're on are way. Reyes out."

Lara could feel her heart racing at those words. The group was going to be together again. She had found Sam and everything would be okay. Together, they would find Roth and hopefully Alex as well. Lara reached the edge of the camp hiding behind an outcropping. But she saw Sam and Sam saw her as well.

"Lara! You made it!" Sam exclaimed happily. She was sitting on a bench in front of the fire with her left foot bandaged.

"Sam! Thank goodness…" Lara breathed in relief.

"Um… surprise!" Sam said uncomfortably, seeming rather nervous.

Lara stepped more into the clearing and noticed the strange man. Next to Sam on the ground was an older man. Maybe in his mid to late fifties. He had on a grey jacket and a grey shirt underneath. He was bald and had the stereotypical weathered face. It looked like his life had been extremely hard. He was walking with the aid of a crutch under his right arm. Seeing her, the man slowly climbed with the aid of his crutch to his feet.

Immediately Lara pulled out her bow notching an arrow. Though she was interrupted by Sam.

"It's okay. He's one of us."

The man looked at Lara and then turned to Sam giving her the same grim smile. "Sorry if I startled you." Lara shivered at the voice. _'Something is not right about this guy…'_ But Lara reigned in her thoughts as the man continued. "This place would make anyone a little jumpy."

Lara still kept back watching him. "We just spoke to your crew… they're on their way." Lara shivered again. There was something about how he had said that. Like there was a double meaning or something.

Sam bent down seeming up disturbed by the man's strange way of speaking. Pointing to her foot she stated. "Look, he bandaged my foot."

Stepping forward the man chuckled. "Oh, it was the least I could do." He started to hobble over to Lara making her even more nervous. "My manners, I'm sorry… I'm Mathias." Mathias reached out his right hand to Lara, but she hesitated. There was something really wrong with this man. Lara looked him in the eyes and saw it. "A teacher by trade…"

Lara slowly shook Mathias' hand trying to understand what she had seen.

"I'm not really cut out for island life, I'm afraid." Mathias chuckled again as Lara carefully let go of his hand and circled around to the fire.

Sam motioned for Lara to sit down. "Sweetie, you look exhausted, sit down!"

Lara nodded sinking down to sit on the ground. "Yeah…"

Mathias also sat down slowly due to his leg. He was somewhat in between Sam and Lara. He continued speaking. "Sam here was just telling me about the Sun Queen."

Nodding Sam replied. "Right, Himiko!"

Resting her hands on her knees which she had tucked up Lara stared into the fire.

"Can you tell me more? I'm intrigued."

Having an audience was something that Sam just never could say no to. "Well, believe it or not, a couple thousand years ago. Queen Himiko pretty much ran things in Japan." Sam was getting into the story more and more.

Lara sighed. "She loves telling this story…"

Sam just ignored her and continued. "Himiko was beautiful, enigmatic, but also ruthless and powerful! Legend says she had shamanistic powers.

"And this is where she loses me." Lara gestured with her hands in despair.

Mathias turned to Lara shaking his head sagely. "Well Lara, there's always some truth to myths." He then motioned to Sam to continue, which she did eagerly.

"She, Himiko that is, commanded an army of Samurai warriors, her magnificent Stormguard. They rode the very winds into battle, laying waste to all who opposed them. They say the sun rose at Himiko's command and she ruled everything its rays touched. From the mountains to the sea and beyond."

Lara could feel sleep slowly take hold of her as the warmth of the fire, relief at finding friends at last, and the soothing sound of Sam's voice. Still, there was this nagging thought that ran through her mind. _'What is so wrong with Mathias' eyes? Why do they bug me so?'_ Lara felt the answer was at the edge of her consciousness. She was struggling to stay awake now, to think about it. _'He has the coldest eyes I have ever seen… not even snakes have that cold of eyes…'_

"But what happened to her?" Mathias asked.

Sam's voice droned on talking about Himiko. "Well, one day…"

Lara gave up the fight, closing her eyes as sleep overtook her.

* * *

 **Again, this is a long chapter but I wanted to give some perspective and answer in my own way things that didn't make sense to me. One, why did someone leave a bow on a corpse hanging in the air? Doesn't make sense, so came up with a work around. Two, where the heck did the music come from? That still kinda haunts me to this day when I think about it. Thirdly, why did Lara not like Mathias? Besides obvious stranger danger… teach it to your kids its vital… if only Sam had some.**

 **Hope you all enjoy reading and please drop me a review and tell me what you think about the story!**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Shadowlord7**


	6. Chapter 3:Wolves Aren

**Dear readers. I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. Over a month. But at least here is an update and the next chapter. My work/home life has really been impacting me and I am sorry I couldn't get this done sooner. There are also a couple of things I had to research for my sake as a writer. Like I have said before, I want the characters to feel more real then they do in the game. And hopefully, you all are experiencing that as well. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Not to mention its 7k words...**

 **As Always…..** **Review Replies.**

 **DarthTroubleMaker: Yeah, you will just have to wait and see about Alex. This chapter certainly has a lot of Alex and hopefully you will see that there might be some hope to him living… maybe he is more that just a hacking genius… :)**

 **Jim: I know, it's a cursed Island, I just don't want everything to rest on that… I can suspend my disbelief for massive storms, an undetectable Island and the powers of wind and such… but turning on a record player? (Maybe I think too much… ;P)**

 **Kit: Of course! I want to always be willing to listen to advice. Especially if it makes things easier for you all to enjoy the chapter. I always appreciate your thoughts and encouragement.**

 **NoirValor: I am glad that you like it. I am sorry that it was confusing… I will try to do better. Maybe add a (Alex POV) after the line breaks. This chapter though is going to be solely from Lara's view though.**

 **Guest: I have not forgotten about you! Please believe me! Life has just sucked bad the last month. I'm telling you on my word of honor this will be finished someday… but I can't promise how long until that someday :D**

 **Bbpc: To answer your question… I am updating it right now… ;) Please read this chapter and hopefully most of your questions will be answered. When I read your review, I literally started to laugh. I was writing this chapter. As to the movie… I have not seen it. However, I feel like trying to take a story, like Tomb Raider 2013 which takes like 8-10 hours of story and make that 1.5-2 hours means you are going to lose a lot of story. As it is, I am writing this fanfiction because… I thought the characters could have been better and I had a desire that things turned out differently. Hopefully you will continue to enjoy this story. Have you seen the film? And if so, was it good? No spoilers please…**

 **As always… please Read and Review… everyone's reviews mean so much to me and it lets me know**

 **How I can improve.**

 **If you are enjoying it**

 **Allows me to personally, every upload, thank you for going on this journey with me.**

 **You are all amazing and I hope you enjoy the chapter…**

 **P.S. I don't own Tomb Raider….. How many times to I have to write that? :D**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Wolves Aren't Always Canines**

(Lara POV)

The wind shrieked through the trees as the rustled overhead. Lara's eyes opened as she groggily looked around her. It's almost like there were words being whispered by the wind that the trees rustled in reply to.

Lara blinked several times slowly as she took in the campsite. Something seemed weird but her sleep addled mind could not recognize it.

' _I must have really needed the sleep.'_ Lara stretched raising her hands high above her. _'It felt so really finding Sam and my subconscious was creating some weird character named Mathias.'_ Lara smiled at the thoughts of her rogue psyche. At least, until she saw the wristband lying on the forest floor. Lara's heart stopped as she bent down and picked up the unremarkable item from the dirt. The bile started to rise in her throat as she started to come to the terrifying reality that yesterday had been no dream, not a nightmare that ended happily, but the cold hard truth. She had found Sam! Only for Sam to disappear, as well as the mysterious character Mathias. The worst realization though was that that there was no way her good friend Sam would ever just leave her without saying anything. Not on this creepy ass island anyway.

Feeling desperate, Lara started to yell into the forest. "Sam?! Mathias?!" Nothing returned but the eerie echo of the her own voice. "Sam!?" Lara could feel this oppressive sensation as nothing returned to her but the whispering laughter of the wind through the trees. It seemed to mock her feebly efforts at finding good fortune; mocking shrill tones while muffling her attempts at reconnecting with her friends.

Of course, that was ridiculous, the forest wasn't alive, but that was how Lara was feeling. Alone, lost in a terrifying forest filled with darkness, evil men and death. Not to mention, the constant depressing drizzling rain. Everything seemed to be pitted against her and the overwhelming feeling of just wanting to sit down and cry was coming over her. Sam was missing, again. Roth, Sam, Jonah, Grim, Whitman, Reyes, and Alex were all missing somewhere in the damnation of woods and… _'well, Alex might be dead…'_ Lara collapsed down next to the dying fire. _'This can't happen now. I need to stay focused. They are missing and sure some of them might be dead but if I ponder that now I will definitely not see them again.'_ Lara felt Alex's glasses in her back pocket. She pulled them out and looked at them. The lenses were still dirty and the left one was splattered with blood. She ran her thumb over the dried substance, _'this might be all that I have left of him, if Roth is right about that… of course though,'_ Lara could feel the tears welling up in her eyes blurring out the peripherals of the forest. _'when was the last time Roth was wrong?'_

Lara could feel her heart aching as she looked at her two mementos; a wristband and a pair of glasses. Her two best friends lost to this damn island. _'Alex might be dead, but Sam was very much alive last night.'_ Lara looked at the sky. The sun was beginning to rise in the east casting shadows all around her. It was making more sense now that she had such uncomfortable feelings about Mathias when she first met her. It was the cold deathless eyes of an evil man. She had seen those types of eyes before, Just during that year she had been in a class at university and one of her older classmates had those eyes. Later, she had learned he had been a serial rapist who had tried to rape the wrong girl. She had been a Krav Maga Brown Belt and had basically ripped his dick off. Lara could still remember everyone gave the girl a wide berth after congratulating her on defending herself. The girl, Aliyah something, had been an exchange student from Tel Aviv. In fact, it was the first time she had really noticed Alex. While everyone had been wary of the girl, Alex hadn't been. He had just walked up to her and gave her a fist bump saying she had 'gone easy on the guy'. The two had been friends ever since. Lara blushed as she thought how many times over the last eight months she had been jealous of Aliyah. Of course, she never told anyone. It was then that Sam had a class with Alex and, typical Sam, had invited Alex to a 'Study Session at the Nines'. Lara chuckled to herself at how startled Alex was when he showed up lugging a giant backpack filled with books and other things to find Sam was looking for something… else. Much to Lara's personal happiness, though not to Sam's, Alex had declined gently, but strongly enough that Sam had gotten the message.

Although, for a while she took it as a challenge. Alex had looked over at Lara and… _'One of the few times I didn't mind someone checking me out.'_ Lara grinned. He had not done it super obviously, but both Sam and Lara had noticed. Lara, of course, pretended not to notice but Sam had given him a couple choice words. The poor guy had been flustered, but not too embarrassed to come and 'study' more at the Nine Bells.

What had been surprising though, was that Alex actually was studying. Lara had been extremely disappointed when she figured it out. Mostly it was just him, but sometimes he would bring Aliyah with him. This only further made Lara's time hurt more as she would wonder what the hell they were whispering and laughing about. However, when she would go other there, Alex was always a little more finished then before. Aliyah though…

Lara shook herself out of her daydream looking at Alex's glasses. There was moisture on them and on inspection it was her own tears. Lara forcefully stood up as she put the glasses in her pocket again. _'I need to find Sam first, I can't waste anymore time daydreaming. I need to find Sam and that man Mathias.'_

Something stirred inside of Lara, it was dark and grim deep down. Anger, but yet it was more than that. It felt like… hatred. A deep seething loathing for the old man. Lara had never really ever felt this way toward anyone before. This was new and Lara could envision killing the bastard if she was ever able to find him. If this was anger, it was to humongous proportions. Yet, Lara settled on that the feeling must actually be hatred. The type of hatred only found in drama's and theater plays.

Focusing not on anything, but fierce and glorious vengeance Lara hurried down the steps further into the forest. _'I must find them!'_ She peered into the dark forest around her for any possible evidence as she kept moving forward. Suddenly there was a faint yet oddly familiar click sound at her feet. _'Strange, almost sounds like a tra…'_ Lara thought just before she cried out from an excruciating pain that shot up her left leg from her foot stopping her immediately.

Falling to her knee, as the debilitating pain continued to course through her as she turned to her left leg that was stuck in the deadly bear trap. Lara stared at it in shock, as she tried to pry her foot out and of course they were of no avail. The trap was a nasty piece of work and really in the semi darkness Lara could not make out the details so that she could free herself.

That was when she heard it though. The low guttural rumble; a wolf growling. Not to mention with several different pitches which would mean more than one of them. _'It seems so unfair,'_ Lara thought as she quickly pulled her bow out and notched an arrow. Looking in to the shrubbery. _'to survive so much to die to a damn pack of wolves.'_ As her eyes darted from one growl to another as she waited for the first wolf to decide to attack.

She didn't need to wait long, as the predator suddenly leapt at her from the bushes. Often times in near death experiences it seems that time slows down. It is a concept so often showcased in movies and such for the hero in their time of need. For Lara, it was unmistakable and something should would never forget. Even as she loosed the arrow into the sternum of the wolf while it was in mid air there was almost and element of surrealness to it. The forlorn whimper of the canine as it fell next to her was all Lara needed to know it was no longer a threat. As quickly as she could she pulled out another and was only just in time. The second wolf shared its predecessor's fate, but before Lara could prepare a third wolf leapt upon her knocking her to the ground.

Lara stared up into its salivating maw, _'Damn!'_ she reacted as quickly as she could and dropped the bow ramming her fist in a vicious right hook to the wolf's jaw. Much to Lara's disappointment and growing fear, the wolf just shrugged off the hit and snarled. As it teeth came close to her throat, Lara closed her her eyes waiting for the inevitable pain and darkness of death.

The roar and thunder of a gunshot echoed around her and Lara could feel the weight on her chest vanish instantly. Opening her eyes, she saw the wolf, well… _'It's corpse anyway. But how?'_ The wolf's quivering and shaking body lay next to her, it was definitely dead; mostly due to the rather large hole in the side of its head. It was in the last pathetic death throws that happen when death unexpectedly comes.

Lara's mind was slowly trying to piece everything together as she noticed that a fair amount of the wolf's head was missing. She looked away from the gory twitching mess and looked toward where the gunshot must have come from. The darkness made it hard to see, but Lara could just barely make out the form of a man walking toward her. He had a gun firmly held in his hands, and he moved warily as though expecting another wolf or threat to suddenly come upon them. Lara started to breathe quickly as the adrenaline left her, and taking its place was the deep throbbing pain of in her thigh and the much sharper pain of her foot.

Groaning, Lara sat up trying to take in more of her surroundings and reached down grabbing her discarded bow. Upon hearing her groan, the man and stopped for a split second before rushing to her side and falling on his knees. This gave Lara a much better change to look at him… and instantly she felt her heart stop and then start going a mile a minute.

Even though in any other location, she would never have recognized him because of the complete difference of his appearance. She knew him instantly… _'Alex!'_

The Alex had thrown his gun on the ground as, on his knees in the mud of the forest floor, he wrapped Lara's small delicate frame in his arms. The giant hug was too much for her and Lara could feel her tears starting to fall. _'I guess this is what they mean,'_ She thought to herself as she relished the comfort of human touch. _'tears of happiness.'_

"Well LC, " Alex chuckled, oh how much she had missed the sound of Alex's awkward chuckle. "looks like I found you after all." He pulled out of the hug, which left Lara's mind screaming for again, as he looked at first her foot that was still locked in the trap and then back at her face. Gently, with his right thumb he wiped her tears from off her cheek. This only of course just seemed to make her cry more.

' _He's alive! Alex is alive. He's not dead somewhere, lost forever in this damn island. Am I dreaming? Is this my subconscious coming up with this just because I want it so badly to be true?'_ Lara could feel her mind trying to come to grips with its fears and realizing that they had not come to be. _'And never will.'_ Lara could feel through her tears the confidence and surety. _'I won't let anything take this man away from me.'_ But her fears persisted as she pulled Alex to her and laid her head on his chest. Basically right on top of the giant "esc" button that was on his shirt. She could hear it, and as she did her fears and uncertainty faded away. The steady hum and beat of his heart thundered and reverberated inside her shaking her to her core. And the happiness just wouldn't go away. It was its own drug that flooded her system with joy.

' _Strange to be surrounded by death, and three dead wolves around us in a forest that wants to kill us it seems; yet all I feel is this bubbling happiness inside of me.'_

As much as she could have spent eternity resting, listening to the most comforting sound of her life. Lara knew she couldn't spend more precious time at Alex's heart. She pulled away and looked up into his face. She stared gazing at what, besides his voice and sapphire eyes, was a face she would never have recognized. The crystal blue of Alex's eyes were watching her right then, evaluating no doubt her condition but Lara could feel the happiness and relief in them as they gazed down on her. However, looking into those crystal pools, Lara saw something else drifted in their depths. The normal Alex was there, but yet hiding just below was something new, something hard… almost… steel-like.

Besides the small change in his eyes, his face was covered in dried mud and blackened blood. His hair, normally perfect, at least to Lara, was filthy and it stuck to his forehead by the awful combination of blood, sweat and filth. His incredibly nerdy shirt was ruined by black blood splatter and dirt. He looked like he was a survivor from the beaches of Normandy.

Lara was stopped from her inspection of Alex because he had turned and started working on the trap. It was obvious though that he couldn't force it open. As Alex tried Lara cried out as the pain shot up her leg.

"Sorry," Alex murmured softly to her. "we need to get you out of this."

' _Ever practical still…'_ Lara thought as she gritted her teeth together hard. She hissed through the pain.

"Try shooting the trap latch. Might cause a release."

Lara's statement was greeted with absolute silence for a few moments until she looked up at Alex, only to see him staring at her incredulously. "What?" Lara continued perplexed by his shock.

Lara had seen many terrible and strange things since landing on the island. She was not expecting for Alex, blood covered Alex, to suddenly burst into laughter. He started to shake his head as his laughter dissolved into chuckles.

"Oh Lara, LC," He got himself under control as he continued gently though the mirth was still hiding under it. "that only works in computer games and movies, the bullet would ricochet and most likely hit you. Than you would be stuck in a bear trap and shot." He shook his head. "I am either going to need a large wrench or have you help me put the pressure on these to reset the trap and get your foot out." He laid his right hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze as he softly continued. "Can you do that for me?"

Looking at him, Lara felt like she could jump across the English Channel if he asked. She could feel strength and determination rising in her. She nodded, which caused a big grin to spread across Alex's face making blood and mud crack under it. "That's the LC I know and…" His voice died into nothingness before he could finish, but turned to start pushing down on the jars of the trap.

It took an enormous amount of effort from the two of them. Lara could feel her arms trembling from the exertion as they both slowly moved the jaws slightly apart. It seemed to take forever as Lara could feel the sweat rolling down her body. Alex kept steady pressure and soon in reality the jaws pulled away. Instantly, Lara could feel the sharp shooting pain in her foot stop and be replace with a dull ache. Lara hadn't moved faster in her life than pulling her foot from the trap. Once free they both let go collapsing next to each other on the forest floor. There they rested trying to catch their breath from the exertion, shoulder to shoulder gazing up at the few stars that danced in the sky framed by the peaks of the trees.

They didn't spend long in that position but for Lara it was wonderful. Sure, her body ached all over especially her thigh which she could feel was bleeding again. _'I must have torn it open doing I am not sure what. Fighting wolves? Stepping in bear traps? Running down stairs?'_ She could feel the dark sadistic humor of it all. Above them, the wind seemed to whisper, but not in the same way. It felt like it was watching them and… didn't want to intrude. _'Ridiculous I know. Maybe I have just wanted this moment for so long.'_

Movement next to her snapped her out of her reverie and Alex knelt and had started to examine her foot. Lara felt a little pain as Alex as gently as possible probed her ankle with is fingers. While it was no longer the shooting pain, Lara just kept breathing and watched as Alex examined her foot. Hundreds of questions circled through her head, but for the moment she was just grateful not to be alone and of course that it was Alex who was alive and with her.

"What's the verdict Doc?" Lara couldn't help asking. The title caused Alex's left eyebrow to raise itself as he humored her. He must have decided to play along as he cleared his throat and in the most bored and emotionless tone droned in reply to her.

"Ms Croft, due to my incredible and wonderous knowledge of all medical importances, firmly recommend bed rest for ten weeks. The only other option is amputation." No matter how hard he tried though, Lara could see the twinkle in his sapphire eyes. It was such a strangle look. Horror film worthy face, but with eyes that made it seem like they were in a warm coffee shop or in Nine Bells… not lost on some island in the Pacific that was trying to kill them.

Alex shook his head and continued. "In all seriousness Lara, there's good and bad news. What do you want first?"

"Bad, than the good."

Alex nodded quickly. "You have sprained your ankle, not terribly but still not good. Also," The twinkle showed up again as the seriousness ended for a second. "You are going to need to get new boots. This one is toast. Probably the only reason why you didn't break your ankle instantly. Oh, and that's the good news. Your ankle is not broken."

Laughter bubbled up in Lara and she decided to let it out. "Well, that's good. A broken ankle would have left my dancing career in shambles." Alex joined her as they say that laughter is the best medicine.

The wind seemed indignant that they should be laughing, because it forcefully started blowing through the trees. Lara raised her hands to Alex, "Please help me up." Which of course he did and he supported her as she leaned heavily on him. Her foot was hurting whenever she put a ton of pressure on it. Lara knew they needed to rest and they would need a fire. Luckily, she knew just where there was one nearby. She quickly told Alex and he had agreed as they moved off together back up the stairs.

However, they had only just started up the stairs when they could hear the sound of people coming toward them. Turning them around Alex drew his 1911 while trying to shield Lara with his body. While, this was incredible sweet and dear of him in Lara's eyes, she didn't need him defending her. She pulled out her bow and notched an arrow. She tried to ignore the pain in her foot as they both waited, but damn it hurt like hell...

They didn't need to wait long though. Four people came out of the shrubbery and instantly Lara could feel her heart soar. Some of these faces were the dearest sights ever. She could help calling out, as she put her bow away and hobbled toward them with Alex supporting her along the way. "Jonah! Reyes! Grim!" Lara also of course noticed Dr. James Whitman, but he wasn't as dear and didn't even seem to notice them that much as he was furiously writing in his journal.

Hugs went around to everyone, Jonah giving both Alex and Lara a bone crushing hug. Grim was grumbling but Lara knew the man was on the verge of tears at seeing the two of them safe and sound.

"Eh Lass! Blast it all to starboard and the damn seas! It good to see ye alive and in one piece." Grim grouched and then clapped Alex on the shoulder. "Ye had me worried we had lost ye laddy! Damn! Don't go wandering off like that again!"

Laughing in relief Alex replied good naturedly. "No worries Grim! I'm just glad to see you all are still alive. Let's not get ambushed again, though."  
Everyone, but Lara, started to laugh in comraderie of survivors. Reyes pulled them all back into the present though by turning to Lara and asking. "We were in communication with Sam. She said to meet her here on the radio, have you seen her?"  
Lara gasped as she suddenly remembered about her best friend's abduction. With every power and strength she had mentally she put it behind her. "Sam was here with a man called Mathias, I fell asleep and when I woke up they were gone. I think Mathias took her."

Everyone got extremely quiet as they listened as Lara explained the events of the night before with her, Sam and Mathias. Every detail was needed about this man Mathias and Alex was shaking his head in frustration and self-loathing. He spoke up. "I know the man you are describing. I saw him by the fire but I didn't see Sam though and because I didn't confront him he took Sam. I am so sorry Lara."

Before Lara could respond, Grim beat her too it. "Laddy, it wasn't ya fault." The anger in Grim's voice was almost tangible. "From what we all have seen we should all avoid 'em damnable savages. Ye did right, and ye ain't a murderer."

The others quietly agreed with Grim, but Lara could see Alex was still just as frustrated and angry with himself. Lara laid her hand on Alex's arm. "Alex, the only one to blame is Mathias. He's the one that did this, not you or Sam." She could tell he was listening, but Alex wasn't going to be going easy on himself.

Reyes, ever the voice of reason and action spoke up again. "The main task now if still the same. Find our lost comrades. Roth is in a village further up the mountain and has bunkered down there. We need to regroup but first lets spread out and find Sam." The entire group all nodded in agreement, it was true. First steps to surviving would be to find the others. Then they would form a play to find a way off the island.

"I'll stay with Lara." Alex said with confidence which Lara could only admire. "We will rest up until she is ready and then head up the mountain to find Roth." Lara could only nod as the strategy was sound. It was impossible in her current condition that she was going to be able to go searching for Sam on her own. Also, there was no way she wanted to be alone again.

"No, I'll stay with her." Dr. Whitman suddenly interjected. It was the first thing he had said so far. "Alex you would be more useful in the search."

Alex looked like he was trying to think of a way to tell Dr. Whitman to go jump off a cliff. He looked over at Lara and with her yeses she tried to plead with him not to leave her.

Reyes, God bless her, interjected. "Very well, we will split up into two teams of three. You guys stay here until Lara is ready to make the hike. We will try to find Sam but if we don't find any sign of her by 0900 we will also start heading for Roth. We will meet up with you all there. That's are plan and if anyone has a reasonable objection speak now."

No one said anything for a few seconds, until Grim nodded, "Let's get movin' ye lily lubbers." The search team headed off into the woods.

Lara could feel a huge weight lift off her. Alex made her sit down with her back to a rock wall and started to as gently as possible unlace her boot and take it off. Lara hissed in pain a few times during this operation but persevered through it. Once the boot was off though Alex sat at her feet and placed her foot which had swollen some in his lap, which caused Lara some great puzzlement and embarrassment. Sure her feet stank something awful, but if so, Alex didn't seem to mind or notice. She was not sure what he was doing until he started to slowly and gently rub his thumbs at the base of her foot. As he massaged her injured foot, Lara almost let out a deep groan. It felt AMAZING. Immediately she felt her body start to relax and it felt like she was melting into a pool of pure contentment.

Apparently, though it made Dr. Whitman quite uncomfortable as he nervously walked around until he turned to them. Lara was so relax at this point that she could barely make out what the archaeologist was saying. But it sounded like he was going to go and scout ahead. Alex warned him about wolves, but the renowned man waved it off and left.

Lara couldn't help herself from moaning, though she tried to make it more of a murmur, "That feels amazing. Where did you learn this?"

Chuckling, Alex continued to rub her feet. "My mother enjoyed it when we would watch movies growing up to have Kaz or I rub her feet. It helped her relax and we got to show her our appreciation for her. However, more recently whenever Aliyah was super stressed when we were studying until sometimes 2 AM I would do this and it seemed to help."

Lara felt something like her heart seize up at the mention of the Israeli Beauty. She knew she didn't want to know but… "Did you both study late often together?"

"Electrical engineering is really hard Lara." Alex replied laughing. " I try hard to excel in it but if Aliyah hadn't be helping me with some of the more complex topics I would have probably failed hard." Alex seemed to lose focus and she slowly stopped rubbing Lara's foot which she desperately wanted to ask him to keep going. But Alex's next words caused Lara's heart to sink to the bottom of her soul. "I wish she was here."

Again, she really didn't want to know but at the same time needed to. "You guys are really close?"

Alex shook his head, "Oh, I'm being purely selfish. If we had two kick ass women here these bastards would be running into the sea drowning themselves out of terror." He laughed at the idea. "Aliyah served in the Israeli Defense Force for eighteen months as she is required to do. She would d us a lot of good right now."

There were very few things that made Lara feel inadequate in life. She knew she was beautiful, smart and talented. However, how could she really match up to someone like Aliyah? _'I can't measure up to Miss Israeli Perfection. Alex probably just sees me as a friend. Shit! That's what he said on the Endurance before it sank.'_ Lara's psyche responded to her though in its typical annoying fashion. _'You did say that there was no attraction on your end remember? So… why would he even try to pursue you? He might be treating you like a good friend or sister because you won't let it be anything else. Thought of that?'_

' _Of course, I have thought of that! You are me, if you have thought it than so have I!'_ Lara thought back at herself.

' _Well, then you got to show him you were wrong or lying about not being attracted to him. And that you might want something more than just "friends who rub each other's feet"!'_

Alex interrupted her thoughts though as he stopped rubbing her feet and pulled off his backpack. He quickly rummaged through it and pulled out some strips of some type of jerky. He motioned it over to her. "Hungry?"

Somethings move faster than the speed of light. A hungry Lara Croft was one of them as she grabbed the piece of food thanking Alex profusely as she devoured the meat. Alex had pulled out a second piece but on inspection of how quickly she had eaten he had burst out laughing. Lara could feel the deep blush, but she hadn't eaten in a while. Alex though didn't seem to want to tease her long as he gave her his piece as well. "I think you need this more than me right now." Of course she excepted it and soon the jerky and joined it predecessor.

"I think its some kind of boar meat that they turned into jerky strips. It tastes very similar to pork."

To Lara it was the most tasty meat she had ever tasted before. The phrase "to a starving man anything is sweet" was so true.

There was a companionable silence that descended on them. Lara just enjoyed the human closeness after all the horror that had happened, but her mind kept telling her to tell Alex how she was feeling. However, that was a road with potential pain… so she settled on something else. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the glasses.

"Alex," Lara started softly as she suddenly didn't want to give them away for some reason, causing Alex to look at her. "I have something for you too."

"No way!" Alex leaned over and grabbed them. "You found them! I was wondering where I had lost them."

"I… I… fond them near two… dead men in the wood." Lara could feel the pain again reliving the thoughts that Alex had died as well. "I… I thought… you were… you know…"

"Dead?" Alex asked quietly.

"Yes."

Besides the crackling of the camp fire there was absolute silence. After a few minutes, Alex broke it. "I almost was." He closed his eyes as he held the glasses in his hands. "It was me or them. I chose myself." He let out a heavy sigh. "They say its hard to kill." Hard sapphire eyes met soft brown. "It's a lie Lara. It's very, very easy. Shockingly easy." He looked away into the forest. "I watched their lives end, the essence that was them slowly drain from their eyes. Killing is easy; surviving after killing? Much, much harder." Lara could feel the moisture building up in her eyes. But Alex leaned over and gently held her had as he continued. "I hope you don't' experience this feeling Lara, ever. If I could shield you from this awful thing I would do it."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lara nodded. Alex leaned suddenly forward extremely close to her. Their faces were literally inches apart and Lara felt her heart stop. _'Is he going to kiss me?'_ Before she could do anything, he leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead.

He pulled back from her stating "Good wishes won't save us though, if your up for it we should start to get ready to go find Roth."

Lara was stunned, she didn't know if she should feel elated or disappointed. _'Alex just kissed me! However, it was on my forehead. I would have rather…'_ Lara blushed as her thoughts started to get the best of her. _'Dammit Lara focus!'_ But her mind was going into overdrive as she quickly laced up her boot. _'Was that a friendly action? Survivors nerves?'_

Alex helped her stand and she was surprised with just how much Alex's foot rub had helped. She could walk. It wasn't painless, but she didn't need help walking at least. Her mind kept telling her to say something, anything to get them talking about the moment they had just shared. But Lara couldn't figure out what to say and so she decided to take the cowards way out. Just don't say anything.

They wandered down in companionable silence and least that was what Alex must have thought because inside Lara there was a hurricane of turmoil. They encountered as small pack of wolves and then they after searching for a while found Dr. Whitman next to a giant door. It was eerily covered in drawings of the famed Sun Queen. It was clear to Lara how unsettled it made Alex looking at the door. Dr. Whitman was ecstatic about the whole thing.

"These are fascinating!"

Lara replied in some wonder as she recognized some of the drawings. "I have seen these before… they must be ritualistic."

"Yes?" Whitman was almost giddy. "This female image is particularly interesting."

Lara reached up to the door and touched the paintings. It was somewhat damp, but if that was because of the rain or… "This looks like it was made quite recently."

Whitman started walking rubbing his hands together. "Made most likely by the those islander, no doubt. Judging by all the wrecks out there they were once like us… survivors. It's truly remarkable!"

"Yes, well lets hope we don't become murderers too." Lara replied. Though Whitman waved it away. He stood next to a turning wheel that obviously worked the door.

"Alex, see if you can be useful and work the other one." Lara could feel a disgust of the man as she watch Alex grab an iron bar nearby and put it in the mechanism.

Together the two men opened the door and they all continued up the stairs. It was not the most delightful things that Lara had seen but still Whitman wouldn't shut up about their 'discovery'.

"That female figure on the gate. Given the age of the symbols, it could be the Sun Queen."

"Himiko?" Alex sounded incredulous.

"Are you sure you are not channeling Sam, Dr. Whitman?" Lara added.

"Well," The man continued. "There no doubt that Himiko had power. Some say Shamanistic. Elemental!"

They were walking up a long corridor of stone stairs, surround by large upcroppings of rocks.

"A woman wields that much power and sooner or later people start calling it witchcraft." Lara rebutted.

"We shouldn't discount anything, even what may seem to us irrational…"

"Like you…" Lara could barely hear Alex mutter behind her. It caused her to smirk a little.

"…we still have much to learn about the world."

Lara sighed. "You sound like my father…"

"This could be one hell of a story, Lara."

"Not if we don't live to tell it." Lara looked over at all the statues they were passing and it was not reassuring.

"I agree." Alex said from the back of the progression.

They proceeded on for a while until they can to a shrine. The idol was surrounded with candles that were lit, which caused Alex to pull out his gun.

"What's wrong boy?" Whitman stated in an aggravated tone.

Alex stared at the man for a moment. "Think Whitman. If we have had so much rain how are those candles lit? There must be people around. I don't want to be ambushed again."

"Whatever! Incredible, it is Himiko!"

"But look… the bowl and the candles." Lara stated. "Why is she still being worshipped?"

"This island, it must have once been part of Yamatai! You were right Lara!"

Lara looked around amazed. Here it was… the object, the purpose of their adventure. Yamatai, it was real, it was amazing. They were making history! "This is the lost kingdom!"

"It's like finding Atlantis!" The man exclaimed.

"I am sorry," Alex broke in to the two's conversation. "but this is real Dr. Whitman. People have died, friends of ours."

Lara looked over at Alex, and because of the candles it made the dried blood on his face even more noticeable. "Alex is right, this is not a myth."

"No! We are standing on a gold mine!" Lara had never seen the Doctor so happy.

"A blood mine you mean." Alex stated sarcastically.

Suddenly, a branch broke. Whitman scrambled for his gun.

There standing before them was a native. Armed but with his hands up in a placating manner.

"Come, quickly, your friends are hurt." The man had some sort of Russian accent.

"Yes, probably by them!" Lara still had her bow on her back and was trying to inch backwards toward Alex who had his gun trained on the man.

"Get back!" Whitman was panicking, the man was no use under pressure.

"We can't trust them!" Alex added supporting Lara.

They started to notice though that the man was not alone. There were several others on their sides with bows and guns trained on them.

"I don't want any trouble."

"No!" Lara was no really trying to put distance between her and Whitman.

"We'll come. But I insist that afterwards, you take us to whoever's in charge!"

"What the hell are you doing Whitman!" Alex yelled.

"Be quiet! I'm handling this."

"No!" Lara pulled out her bow and notched an arrow aiming at the man in front of them. Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground as someone heavy landed on her. Instantly, she heard a gunshot followed by two more and the weight was removed over her as she struggled to get up an arrow landed right next to her face in the dirt. She realized looking around quickly at the dead body of a native next to her and Alex pulling her down the path.

"Run Lara, Run!" Was all he said as she hurried down the stairs. "I will be right behind you." Something in his tone didn't sit right with her, but she obeyed and ran despite the shooting pain in caused in her leg and sprained ankle.

She stopped for a second and listened trying to make out Alex's footsteps following her. All she was met with was the sounds of chaos further up the path. Guns being fired and people yelling in other languages. It was then that she realized the truth…

Alex had lied… He wasn't coming. Suddenly, the gunfire ceased. Leaving just people shouting, Lara could feel the tears in her eyes forming. _'Alex sacrificed himself for me…'_ She turned around and continued to hurry down the path, but her eyes kept tearing up making it hard to see. She rounded a corner and saw the worst thing possible. A tall man, with long dark hair and beard had been waiting for her and backhanded her across the face. She saw stars dancing in her vision as the man flipped her over onto her stomach and quickly tied her hands.

He pulled her roughly to her feet placing his mouth next to her ear. His foul breath made her stomach turn as he laughed… "No one escapes..."

* * *

 **Cliffhanger! lol... I am already working on the next chapter. It should be up sometime this weekend if I am lucky.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **ShadowLord7**


	7. Chapter 4: The Darkness in the Soul

_**Dear Readers,**_

 _ **This is has been so far my least favorite chapter to do. Mostly because it is one of the three chapters where the content is so difficult for me to write about. I am sorry that this was not posted last Saturday. However, my Aunt who was like a second mom to me unexpectedly died that morning. Needless to say, I didn't feel like writing at all. So I am sorry if you all were disappointed but my family will always come first. Especially in moments when support or comfort was needed.**_

 _ **!WARNING!**_

 _ **This chapter is dark. At least I found it to be such. There is mention of attempted rape. (It doesn't go far but it's still ugly) There is some serious mental issues that come up as well. I explain some of my reasoning in the authors notes as well, located at the bottom. The reason why I don't like the content of this chapter is because it is SO dark. Lara goes on a roller coaster and I hate it. However, I hope the writing is good enough that you will see that while this is dark it is not dark for funs... its dark because Lara and others need the character development that comes through horrible things. Remember, this is a story of baptism by fire... that means it hurts.**_

 **On to Review Replies:**

 **DarthTroubleMake: I am super glad you enjoyed the chapter. I am assuming that by 'tension' you are not referring to the conflicts but the *ahem* chemistry between some of the characters... aka... Whitman and Alex. ;) As to the film... I would give it a 4/10... but with 2 beers it rose to a 6/10. :D**

 **Kit: Sorry about it taking a month. Though I am glad you were happy to see the chapter show up. Your enthusiasm is much appreciated. I certainly hope to be done before September... no promises but if I do a chapter a week... (I know I know) then I should be able to finish before that. There are roughly 20 more chapters...**

 **Guest: Yay! you don't have to wait a month! All jokes aside I really appreciate that you like the story and how understanding you are.**

 **NoirValor: I am so happy you are enjoying the story. This next chapter is dark and is going to be vital for character development. Hopefully you will like this chapter too.**

 **Seriously, I am blessed by your reviews. Thank you for taking the time to write them as it tells that you like it. Also, gives you guys the option to give ideas, who knows I might use them :D**

 **Please Read and Review!**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four: The Darkness In The Soul**_

Lara could feel herself being half carried and half dragged onward. As to where she was going she had absolutely no idea. So far, the island had provided her with a special view of what hell must be like. The man forced her to her knees as Lara stared trying to focus on her surroundings. As she did she noticed that she was in some sort of ancient village that was seated in the cliffs. _'Roth must be somewhere up in that direction provided that he still alive.'_ Lara thought. She looked next to her she recognized a fellow prisoner that a crewmember on the Endurance. _'Name is David something,'_ Lara couldn't remember his last name but she did remember that he was a deck crew hand. _'A genuine nice guy. Married with two kids if I remember. His wife had just given birth before we set sail.'_ Lara looked ahead and she saw the Russian man from before walking toward her.

Forcing her to stand and he muttered in Russian, Lara shivered in fear, she might not know Russian, but the man's intent was completely obvious and the way he was gloating carried through to almost any language. There were no words for the feeling of helplessness that there absolutely nothing that she could do to stop this man. She tried to block out the feeling of the man's hands running over her body and she looked anywhere but at the man.

There was nothing that could save her from her fate that was about to happen. However, it seemed she was wrong. Someone was having none of that, that someone being David. Lara could hear more than see the outbreak as David surged to his feet and tackled the Russian yelling, "You get your damn hands off her. Run Lara!"

The struggle was all the others needed as the captured crewmembers burst off running in different directions. Again, Lara ran and but this time she had the foresight to start hiding as well as she could behind rock walls, brush, anything that would mask her presence from the hunters. Who were now searching all around the area yelling and shooting.

Soon the air was thick with the curses, shouts and the screams. To the hunters this must have been some sort of exciting sport, but to Lara and the others this was not a sport; it was a game of survival where all of them had to live or die. There was no middle ground and there was no other alternative. _'I need a clue and I need to find both Roth and Alex._ ' Lara thought and so as the game had started Lara continued by starting to creep around the hunters knowing that discovery was instant death if she was lucky and rape if she was not. She could hear the gunfire and the screams that happened throughout the village.

There really was no way to understand the horror of the environment that she was in. Lara was trying to get through the village but she knew that all around her friends and colleagues were dying. The pain of being in such darkness, and not the physical darkness of night being around her, but the evil darkness in men's hearts. The tears streaked down Lara's cheeks as she huddled behind a stone wall she could hear the brutal screams filling the air as bullets and death descended on small ancient village.

' _Keep moving… you must keep moving.'_ Ross' good advice rang through her mind. It was much easier said than done though. Much easier. She had to keep moving but, if she was not careful her moving could be the death of her. Everything around her told her to hide and wait it out. However, she felt the steely determination rising inside of her as she decided she must move on and she refused to die here. Lara knew that the awful things that she had seen so far were not the epitome of how far humanity could go. But she also knew that she had to keep going for the sake of people like Alex and David. To men that she had no claim on but had sacrificed themselves for her sake. She would honor those sacrifices. They would not be in vain.

So onward she went. She passed several hunters, but thankfully they did not see her. Lara kept to the shadows and to the high rock walls that peppered the area. She could hear though as she moved on the hunters talking to each other. The two sounded very American as they called out as they hunted.

"Have you seen the girl?"

"No, why?"

"Sounds like she escaped. Antonio is fuckin' pissed man."

"Well, I'll keep looking."

Suddenly, the gunshots where fired as a third man started yelling.

"Got ourselves a runner!" Which was followed by three gunshots and scream. Lara started trembling as she wondered how such a thing could be happening. It was worse than the most evil horror movie she had ever watched. She peered over the wall she was hiding behind and looked over at the hunters. She had an opening as they were focused on the man they had just killed. She jumped up as quickly as her bound hands would allow as she rain to the next hiding spot.

Lara heard the gleeful voice of the American again. "We got another runner in the trap."

"Wait! Wait! Don't! Please don't!" The absolute terrified pleading was interrupted by the gunshot. Lara closed her eyes as she listened to the dying man's wheezing his last breaths. She could still hear him still pleading in her mind. Lara could feel something turning cold inside of her. It wasn't anger, not even hatred, but almost a loathing disgust. Still she could feel the desperate need to get away from it all. _'To escape from Hell. I have got to get out of here._ ' Lara sighed as she hurried towards a ruined building that she could hide in and all around her she could hear the hunters searching. Their laughter cruel and cold. She stopped and listened as right next to her.

"We need to find the rest of them. Move out! They are still around here."

"They have a lot of spirit. Makes the hunt so much more fun. It's nice having a challenge."

"It's a shame we have to kill them. We could use some new recruits."

"Did you hear about the girl?"

"I heard Antonio lost her. Big fuckin shame, she's hot apparently."

"Yeah, well let's hope we find her before someone else turns her over to Father Mathias." Lara could feel her breath catching in her throat. _'Father Mathias? That's new. Sounds like he is one of the leaders.'_

"Yeah, what a waste man… I haven't had a girl in over three years man... That's a really long wait."

Lara gasped in horror as it hit her again. Capture was not an option. She was not going to be raped on this God damn island. She tried to shake the feeling as she moved on. The only way up was a stone stairway. She started to pray as she run up it. She needed there not to be anyone at the top of the stairs, if she ran to anyone on the stairs she would be doomed. She made to the top of the stairs and right in front of her were two men. Thankfully, they had their backs to her and were walking away, but Lara thanked whatever lucky stars she had left. She saw a shack that was barely standing to her right.

' _This is my last hope.'_ Lara thought as she ran as quietly as she could toward the shed. She slipped in the last possible second as a flashlight beam passed over her. Lara could feel her heart stop beating and then continued in what sounded obscenely loud. Then she heard the sound of heavy feet walking past her… The man had a flashlight and had been apparently behind her climbing the stairs. The man passed, stopped and then turned back toward her. Lara could make out the man was muttering in Russian… _'Oh no… God no!'_

Lara heard the sound of a gun been cock, "No one escapes!" boomed the mocking voice spoke to her, it seems so surreal to Lara. The flames, screams, shouts and gunshots all faded into the background of Lara's consciousness. She had been found. She was going to die. Her fate was sealed as she stepped out staring up the barrel of a gun at the dark eyes gazing at her. She shivered at the evil in them that was lurking there.

"Out!" the man calmly stated and added in Russian a string of words. Lara slid out of her hiding place as smoothly as she could and tried to quickly get around the man. It was to no avail, the man grabbed her firmly and threw her against the building. Lara could feel the breath slightly knocked out of her as she gulped in fear. The Russian stepped close to her. "I always find them. I always find them."

He started to run his hands down Lara's bare shoulders and arms as he continued talking in Russian Lara closed her eyes as her body, her soul screamed against the foreign contact. The man murmured against her hair, "YA sobirayus' trakhnut' tebya, chert poberi, detka, ya zastavlyu tebya krichat'!" Lara felt like screaming.

She felt the hand groping her chest while another rested at the hem of her shirt. Lara closed her eyes to the horror and her mind instantly brought up Alex's face. He had just been talking to her over his glasses. The way his eyes gleamed in their vibrant sapphire but cold steel awoke something inside her. _'I refuse to be raped without giving it all I've got.'_ This determination to survive, to live to see Alex and Roth again. To not give up.

She saw Alex holding the glasses. "It was them or me, and I choose me." His words rang through the corners of her mind. As she agreed with him… _'I choose me.'_ She could feel welling up in center of her core her decision, _'I choose me.'_ Her mind demanded Alex's sacrificed be honored so that it was actually worth something and not nothing at all. To have his sacrifice lead to nothing would be the cruelest thing she could do.

Lara opened her eyes, she could see the gloating lust in the Russian's eyes. The look of triumph over her, and it made her furious. _'If he wants action, God I will give him action.'_

The Russian must not have been expecting much resistance, because he did not react very fast. He stumbled backwards as Lara's knee swiftly connected with his most sensitive member. Lara tried to run but only made it two steps before she felt her arm grabbed as the Russian threw her against the building again. He stepped close against her, sandwiching her against the post forcefully and pressing with his body against hers. He was cursing in Russian and Lara though from the impact against the wall of the building she felt her bonds slightly loosen. Hope started to steer in her heart.

He growled something against her neck, but Lara wasn't giving up though. Using her free access and the closeness she turned her head and bit the Russians ear, hard. Lara ripped her head away as the man staggered one hand reaching for the little remaining of his ear and the other for his gun at his waist. Lara spat out the bottom half of the man's ear and blood. There was no fight or flight here only the winner of this fight would get to live. Lara was determined that would be her. She charged, lowering her shoulder ramming it straight into the man's chest causing him to fall into the ground. The gun flew off to the side and Lara dove after it. She had been straining against her bonds ever since she had been through against the building and finally they broke.

Lara grabbed the gun and she spun on her back as the Russian lunged at her swearing profusely; Lara just pulled the trigger. Firing the gun twice before the man reached her flinching as she hit him in the shoulder and waist. Lara could feel the terror come over her as he fell on top of her fighting for control of the weapon. His body weight was crushing her, Lara was gasping trying to point the weapon at him while he was doing the exact opposite in a 15 seconds battle that Lara would never forget as the pistol when off a third time between the two of them. Lara felt something hot and liquid splatter on her face as the Russian fell way with a gurgling scream.

Lara rolled away and rose to her feet and pointed the gun at the Russian on the ground still. Lara still pointing the gun at the Russian watched only to see him lay there gasping huge breaths of air. She stared in absolute horror, the man's right eye and a good chunk of its head were gone, he lay there twitching, gasping as his life drained out of him.

It was really only a few seconds, but they felt like an hour to Lara. She didn't feel guilty, this man was an absolute monster who had been trying to rape and murder her. Yet, her mind wouldn't let go the simple thought. He was still human, and he had died by her hand. She had watched the life slowly drain from him. Lara just felt the bile rising in her throat she realized that while the feeling of killing a deer had been terrible, it paled in comparison to killing a human. Even a monster like this Russian had been. A day before had been so difficult for her in killing a stupid deer but now after experiencing the horror of taking another human life, Lara felt like vomiting. Only, she had nothing to vomit up. Sure this human was much, much more evil than that deer had been but it was still so strange to watch the life leave him. It had been so personal, and it was going to haunt her for the rest of her life. She knew it. One doesn't simply come back from this point. She was beginning to understand Alex just a little more.

She didn't feel sorry, but she really didn't feel sorry at all about killing the Russian. Because this man had been trying to rape her and kill her friends and her colleagues. Still, that didn't really console her. Lara was too kind hearted of a person, to innocent to simply brush aside such a lifechanging encounter. Lara fell to her knees as she continued looking at the corpse her breath coming in gasps as she stared and couldn't believe that she had survived.

She could feel her breathing coming ever more erratically, she could feel the difficulty and she felt as she pressed her head in her hands as she tried to regain her composure. Only instead of composure it got worse. She felt this sticky wet substance and looking at her hands in confusion she saw that her hands were covered in blood and _something_. She stared at them for a while she had an awful flashback to her father. Pain radiated through her as she looked on in horror at her blood-stained hands. _'I have his blood on my face… I have his blood on my FACE!'_ Lara grabbed and ripped part of the dead man's shirt off him as she scrubbed hard at her face, willing the offending and horrible substance off her. Lara realized that she was starting to go into shock. _'This is how far you can go into the darkness. Just give in to it. It will be easier if you do. You can save your friends… you can save Alex.'_ Lara could feel the thought running through her mind. Lara forced it mentally away, she didn't have the time or patience at the moment to fight or contemplate these thoughts. Yet, they persisted. _'The hunters aren't really human, killing them, it like killing rats, not even real people. Nothing to feel sorry about.'_

Getting up she walked over and grabbed her bow and arrows that the man had been carrying ever since he had captured her. Attaching them back on, Lara looked around. Nothing had really changed, but nothing really was ever going to be the same again. She could still hear the screams and laughter. The gunfire further up her path. Yet, now….

Lara no longer felt like the prey, she realized as she notched an arrow to her bow, she had left the prey and had joined the hunters… _'I'm going to kill all of these bastards.'_

* * *

The world seemed to sway in a rhythmic fashion. To and fro, to and fro. In any other situation, it would almost seem peaceful, relaxing. Of course, that's in another situation. Reality was not peaceful…

' _I sure wish it was… anything would be better than this right now.'_

"Where are your friends? We know you have friends still in the forest. Where?" The voice was decidedly German. _'Can't get any more stereotypical than that, a German interrogator. Must have been type casted.'_

"Ah, go to hell!" The world rocked again violently as Alex moved around like a wreaking ball. Of course though, with a sharp pain where his ribs were. This, interrogation, had been going on for over a half hour. At this rate, with how bad his head was throbbing he was not sure even if he _**wanted**_ to tell the man anything if it would be very logical or coherent.

Dutch, as Alex effectually had named his beefy interrogator, was getting really frustrated. Over the last half hour, he had gotten two answers. First, "I don't know." Second, "Go to hell!". Not his best work at all. Still, Father Mathias wanted answers… so Father Mathias was going to get answers. So, he had kept beating the man up over and over again.

Alex rocked back and forth until Dutch abruptly stopped him. Before he could say anything, Alex piped up. "Hey Dutch, you know you get when you combine a Merman with a Pathogen?"

The giant of a man stared befuddled at the American, after a few moments he replied begrudgingly, "What?"

Chuckling through the intense pain, Alex answered, "A germ-man."

Dead silence reigned as Alex hung there… one minute… two minutes… finally, Dutch chuckled. "You are a brave stupid American." He shrugged his massive shoulders as he shook his head. "I kill you with one punch yet you make stupid jokes… You want me to kill you?"

Alex grinned back at the mountain of a man, "Nah, not really. You could let me go, but then Father Mathias would be angry… Which is not good for either of us."

Dutch bent down and looked the dangling Alex in the eye. "Honestly, I don't want to kill you. I just need information. Give me that, I let you down. We drink and you tell more stupid jokes. Deal?"

"You know I can't do that Dutch… You know I can't…"

Regret and a flicker of sadness went over Dutch's face. He straightened his shoulders and sent another punch into Alex's ribs. His voice was detached and bored, "Where are your friends?"

"See you in hell!" Dutch stopped instantly, recognition in his eyes and a big grin on his face. "Star Wars da? Han Solo?!"

Groaning, as he swayed back and forth, "Yep… Han Solo… Star Wars… Episode 5."

"Good movies those Star Wars. Classics, not like shit movies nowadays."

Alex squinted through the pain and his headache, "How long have you been on this Island Dutch?"

Sitting down next to Alex's head the big man pondered. "Been on this damn island seven years now. It 2011 da?"

Pity started to well up in Alex as he looked Dutch up and down. "Sorry big guy, its been nine years, its 2013."

"Nine years…" For the first time since they had met for interrogation there was some real emotion. Alex could see it; sorrow. "I've been stuck on this fucking island for nine years…" The big man started to weep. His huge shoulders slumped down, totally broken.

Alex just stared in wonder and empathy, _'Damn! Nine years is a long time to be stuck with crazy psychos in a crazy ass cult.'_ He looked over at Dutch. "I'm sorry man, that's a really long time."

"I had family," Dutch pulled out a wallet with a picture, the picture was of a younger Dutch holding two small boys hands as they were walking down a city street. Dutch pointed at his picture at the older boy, "This is my Aurick, he is the pride of my life. He would be seventeen now. And this," gesturing at the other child, "is Lukas. He was always close to his mother. He would be… fourteen…" Dutch started to cry again. Alex could feel the pain radiating from the man. So many years lost, so many memories that would never be formed.

"No matter how many times we have tried to get off this island, a storm comes and blows us back or kills us. So many have died trying to leave. Damn island won't let us leave."

Just listening, Alex nodded along with Dutch. The storms were certainly unnatural.

"Mathias has been here the longest. He thinks we can appease the island spirit so that we can leave. That's why he sacrifices all these girls. If he finds the right one then we will be free to leave."

Alex's head jerked up. _'that's why he sacrifices all these girls?! That can't be right.'_ The confusion started entering his mind as he started to ponder the implications. "Hold on Dutch, what do you mean 'he sacrifices all these girls.'?"

"Father Mathias burns them at the stake for Sun Queen. Some type of shit like that."

"What? Are you serious?" Alex could feel this horror starting to creep over him.

"Oh yeah, its really awful." Dutch looked over at Alex. "We do it so that maybe, someday, we will be able to go home. Hasn't worked so far."

"Dutch, you know that's not cool. Like, you are murdering people for a religion that's not real."

"But what if it works? Then I can see my family again."

"Maybe, but they won't see you. They will see the monster that this island created. That you willingly let it create."

"You haven't been here for nine years boy!" Dutch leapt to his feet yelling full force. "Once you have been you can dare lecture me."

"You are already lecturing yourself! You know its wrong."

Dutch turned around and rammed his fist into Alex's gut. Alex felt the air leave him as he just kept gasping for breath around the intense pain. Dutch just looked at him and started to walk up the stairs. "I need to think."

' _I'll be hanging…'_ Alex thought to himself as he desperately tried to regain his breath. He closed his eyes as he recalled the upmost importance was finding Sam. _'Especially if she is going to be sacrificed to Himiko.'_

* * *

Lara looked through the quiet empty village. She had done it. She had killed every single person she could find. It was rather easy to do it, not to mention she felt absolutely no guilt. These people had tried to kill her and her friends. These weren't innocent people running around defenseless, she was hunting and killing more dangerous prey. They were very awful monsters that walked around in the guise of humans, Lara thought back to the darkness, sure she was still a semi darkness here in physical aspects but the darkness that surround as her was more metaphorical in sense. This was much worse she could still hear the screams and cries she could hear the laughter in the gunfire going all around her as she was realizing she was still seeing the people she had… executed. She had seen just how far she could go, how far she into the darkness to purge it. They really weren't human anymore, they were just beasts.

Lara continued on working her way further up the cliff in the village, she was determined to find Roth. She also, needed to find Alex. She knew it was impractical, however Lara could feel in her heart that she wouldn't really be at peace until she found his body. Ever since she was a kid who had found her own father by herself, she needed to see the body to have closure. To be able to close this chapter of her life. So she had gone from building to building trying to find him, _'For all I know he could be behind me further down where he was giving me time to get away not much good that did me though.'_ She shook her head as her mental psyche seems to mock her little bit, her psyche though seem too still be supportive of Alex. Though since she started cleansing the village her mind had stopped talking with her. If it brought anything to her mind it was that Alex must be alive and to find him. Lara thought it was strange that her psyche was so upset. It was determined to believe that he was alive though she and in her more realistic moments Lara knew it was no way Alex was alive and if he was he probably was better off that way.

Lara shoved those thoughts aside as she continued on the wood dark issues or to dealing with enough darkness around her to that I'm necessarily dark and grim thoughts to control her mind. So Lara moved on she encountered a couple people. It didn't take long before they were just two more corpses, never again to be a threat to anyone. _'Really they are not much better than animals. Killing the weak and helpless. They deserve a much slower death than I can give them. There are only two types, Prey and Predators, now the role is reversed. And they really don't like me as the predator.'_ As she checked the bodies she looked up to see ahead of her a giant of a man pacing back and forth as he talked with himself…

She didn't have a good shot and with how big the man was it would have to be a perfect shot to take him down. Lara listen, the man was talking to himself about Alex, but he was debating something about right and wrong and what needed to be done. Lara could feel something whole and warm stir up inside of her, Alex was potentially alive. Lara knew that she needed to go find him and there was nothing absolutely nothing that was going to stop her from getting him out of the situation that he had put himself into keep her from harm, nothing had really worked but like many things it's the thought that counts.

Lara realized that to get to Alex she would have to kill that man, for some reason, the idea bothered her more. Sure she had killed around ten other people getting here, but something was nipping at her mind. She shoved it away though, Lara was a survivor she survived growing up without her parents. She had survived the difficulties of rejecting her heritage. She had survived so many things alongside Roth, Grim and now Alex that helped her in continuing to survive. And now it was her turn to help the others survive Lara pulled out two arrows and she placed one up right in the dirt that was right next to her and she aimed at the giant.

The arrow flew from the bow with deadly accuracy, but the man moved at the last minute and the arrow instead of landing for the kill in the man's heart, it hit his shoulder. Lara quickly tried to reload but the man jumped inside the building. _'Shit!'_

Lara quickly and carefully moved toward the building. If Alex was in there she would need to be careful. The man might try to use him as a hostage or just straight out kill him. There was the quandary, speed or caution. Lara choose speed.

' _I need to find Alex.'_ she thought. And so she moved into the building checking her corners and in general cursing the poorness of a bow at close quarters.

Lara approached a wall that was actually a balcony railing she looked down into what was an open room and in the room chained, hanging up by his feet almost like a punching back was Alex. The giant of a man was behind him untethering Alex's legs. _'Most likely to drag him off so that he can't be rescued.'_ Lara thought grimly. _'Well, that is just not going to happen.'_

However, it didn't make sense what the giant man was doing. He had lifted Alex up from being upside down and was undoing the chain. While he whispered something to Alex.

Lara knew something was wrong. Every time see had seen Alex before she had been excited. Now… she didn't, she felt nervous and not the good kind. She wasn't sure what was wrong. She did look at Alex and she felt angry. He looked awful, his face didn't look good and had a dark angry red mark at his temple. He was leaning heavily on the big man's arm which was covered in tattoos.

Dropping down Lara drew back her bow and aimed at the man. If he thought he could hid behind Alex then the joke was on him. But before she could let it loose, Alex looked over and wearily smiled at Lara.

Alex was staring at her as if she was a ghost, _'I probably do look at little bit like one right now.'_ At least Lara had to think that to herself. But he looked terrible. From the blows that he had taken she knew that he was going to be extremely sore. _'He probably might even have a broken rib as well.'_ She knew that her first objective was to get him away quickly from the giant behind and to his side. He just looked at her though and grinned, though it was painful.

"Well there LC, I can't believe that you would have come all the way down here for me. I thought you I told you to run? Don't get me wrong I'm eternally grateful that you showed up. Your impeccable timing saved my life. I owe you one."

Alex turned and nodded at the man next to him who still had Lara's arrow in his shoulder, but was acting like it was no big deal. "This is Dutch, not sure what his real name is though." Alex's brow wrinkled in concentration. "While I don't know if we are on the friends level yet, we might get there. I own him my life. He could have killed me before you ever showed up."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lara rebutted, "He is a hunter, he's got to die. He's one of them."

Alex took a step toward her but noticed that the bow was more aimed at him now than at Dutch. "Who is 'them' Lara?" The way Alex asked it was so gentle and yet it was still direct. Lara got the message, _'Lara, don't give any bullshit.'_

"A monster, a hunter, a killer, an animal." Lara could feel the conviction in her voice, but she was watching Alex. _'He's really hurt. Standing must be really painful.'_

Alex just shook his head though as he placed himself squarely between Lara and Dutch; effectively making himself a human shield. "Well, Lara you're wrong. Dutch isn't some monstrosity or animal. He's like us. Human. He has two boys that he hasn't seen for over nine years."

"Alex, you don't know what you are talking about. Do you have any idea what was going on out there?" Lara was incredulous, how could Alex dare defend them.

"What Lara? The screaming? The gunfire? The torture? Being strung up by my feet while being used as a punching bag?" He turned looking at Dutch, "No hard feelings by the way. I understand, but it hurts like hell."

"Da, thanks, sorry." The big man replied, lowering his head not being able to look at them.

"You seriously can't defend them! They aren't even human!" Lara could feel this coldness rising in her. She could hear the whisper in her mind. _'He doesn't understand, he's not one of us. He's not willing to do what it takes. He'll weigh you down. Cut the slack… get rid of him.'_ Lara pulled back the string and focused on Alex again. Brown eyes stared down Sapphire. No matter what though, Lara didn't expect Alex's response.

"How dare you! Lara, listen to yourself! They are just like us. Survivors, they are humans just like us and don't you dare take that away from them. It only dehumanizes yourself. We need to be better than that. They see us as prey, I see them as humans. Desperate to try to live. Look at Dutch! He has done terrible things to survive. Witnessed the darkness of the human soul, but Lara it is the human soul! Not an animal."

Before she could respond or do anything Alex had hobbled over and pushed her bow down and away. "We need to be better and witnessing the darkness of others, we can't allow ourselves to fall down the rabbit hole with them. I don't know what happened to you when we separated but please… please don't lose yourself. Don't stop being Lara Croft." There were tears in Alex's eyes as he cupped her face in his worn callused hands. He was searching her eyes and Lara could feel a coldness inside her started to melt. And with that melting came the tears, the tears she would shed as she killed all the men in the village and the surviving the attempted rape.

Alex wrapped his arms around her and just held on. He didn't say anything, just murmured comfort to her as she dropped the bow and clung to him. Sobs racked her body as the horror of the last forty-five minutes washed through her. Alex had been right, she needed to let it out. To grieve and humanize the terribleness.

The deep German voice broke into her moment, causing her to look over Alex's shoulder. "Be gentle with him. I tuned him up badly." While Lara felt the coldness wanting to return and kill this hulking giant she felt Alex chuckled and then groaned causing Lara to look back at him.

"It's okay Dutch. You were just doing your job and thankfully we were able to talk it out."

Lara stared at them. _'Talk it out? Well, if anyone was going to talk a Hunter out of being a suicidal maniac with a taste for blood it would be Alex.'_

"Da, you and your bad jokes."

"Thank you for not killing me."

The big man stepped forward flipping the pistol in his hand to Alex. "It's yours. I want to help. I can't see another girl burn for nothing." He looked down staring at his shoes and then back at the two of them still holding each other. "I might never see my boys and wife again. But, I can't allow your friend to die for nothing."

Lara could feel so many questions but she saw Alex glance which was a quiet, _'Tell you later'_. Alex looked at Dutch and asked. "How do you think you could help up Dutch? I don't want you to die for nothing."

The man chuckled, its deep rumble sounded jollier then terrifying to Lara. At least now. Before? She would have killed him immediately. "First Alex, I owe you for using you as a punching bag. Second, I am on the inside. I'll find her while you find your friends. That way I can let you know where to strike to get her out. You've got maybe a day or two before Mathias would try the Rite."

Alex unwrapped his right hand from around Lara and took the pistol and then shook the giants hand. "Deal, take my com with you. Channel 5, that would be the best way to reach me."

The big man grinned and started walking off. Before he exited the room he turned. Looking at Lara he spoke. "Don't throw away the good thing you have girl. Take it from a man who's lost the best things for nine years." He gruffly cleared his throat and giving one last nod to Alex he left.

Lara started laughing she could believe after all the shit they had just gone through she and Alex were back together. Lara smiled at him as he tried to ignore all his injuries and tighten his hold on her. "I thought that you would not need to have any rescue," Lara felt her eyebrow rise as she continued. "I remember you saying 'I'll be right behind you'. However, you never followed. You scared me half to death."

Alex shrugged then winced in pain, "What can I say Lara, I wanted to give you a head start. I thought that was the best way I could guarantee you would be safe. I hope you don't hold it against me." He ended with a grin.

Smiling, Lara just looked at him. "I don't know, I feel like I should hold it against you were a little longer. I don't know why you thought it would be okay to leave me alone in this fucking forest on this fucking island."

"Well, I was hoping that you would survive like you have so far. Lara, I was hoping that you would be lucky enough to get away and to continue on since I had given you a head start. What you think I was trying to do?" Alex looked at her quizzically. "I was trying to save you and there was no other way that I think of that would allow you to get away from them."

Lara was quiet for a while as she tried to find peace amongst the waring emotions. She so desperately wanted to be angry with Alex, because it was such a foolish thing to do. However, she couldn't fault him with the desire that he had to save her. Like for the entire time that they had been together on the island, Alex had only done what he thought was best. _'Still, I'll be damned if I am not furious with him right now. It's the delicate balance of angry and relieved.'_

She shook her head. Alex and her were always going to try to save each other. No use being angry about it. Dutch's words rang in her mind. _'Don't throw away the good thing you have girl. Take it from a man who's lost the best things for nine years.'_ She looked at the battered man in front of her. Suddenly, her psyche that had been so absent from since her killing spree spoke up again. _'Tell him how you feel you idiot! Dutch gave you the perfect opening!'_ Lara cleared her throat as she felt the nerves hitting her again. She knew she had a lot to work through and there was no one she wanted more at her side then Alex. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Alex pulled away.

He moved over to his backpack where Dutch had left it. Still with all of his stuff. He slowly pulled it on and held out his hand to Lara. "Come on… Lets go find Roth."

* * *

 **Authors Notes:**

 **Dear Friends, I generally don't do these but I thought that I should let you know why this chapter was so dark. In my playthrough of Tomb Raider 2013, I was jarred so much by how deeply effected Lara was in her first killing. Then miraculously, she gets over it and becomes a killing machine. To the point were she starts yelling things like "I'm going to kill all you bastards." I didn't want this entire story to have Lara as a psychopath. My final kill count in the game was over 500 enemies. And in the end, she is royally messed up mentally. I wanted to fight that here, in the beginning by focusing on the fact that while there people are terrible murderous bastards, they are still human. They are still people. And Alex is there to help her balance this. Remember, when he first killed he took the time to show respect for the corpses of the men that tried to kill him. This is one of the reasons why I made Dutch. As I was writing this chapter I was just getting miserable. It was so dark and I couldn't figure out how to make it not… "go shoot yourself because you are a terrible person". So, I came up with Dutch. Also, he will be very useful for this story further on.**

 **Please Read and Review: You guys inspire me.**


	8. Chapter 5:The Dawn Will Come

**Review Replies:**

 **Kit: Thanks, these last few weeks have been really awful. However, like where Lara is currently the Dawn will come and the sunshine helps a lot. Thanks for leaving a review! You are one of the main people and inspirations for me. Thank you! This chapter is certainly going to be lighter then the last one… of course doesn't take much to do that. :D**

 **DarthTroubleMaker: Thank you, I really appreciate it. Yeah, the human psyche is very unique and I think Lara's should be more prevalent in the story. She is seeing some bad crap, I have a few friends in the military and killing will affect you. Also, less people to kill will help. One person told me they can still see the faces of the people they killed in the line of duty… expect nightmares, maybe not in this chapter but… soon. As to Alex, yeah… not sure if it was more him than me who needed a joke about then… :\**

 **Bbpc: "A bit short"… Holy Cow bbpc! How long are you wanting these chapters to be? :D Please remember I am a terrible writer and this is my first story, also, the first chapters were like 3k words and I am now averaging 7k… over 100% increase. ;P Yeah, movie was okay… beer helps… I am very happy that you are enjoying this story though. I know I can still improve a lot. As to character plot lines… they mostly will be following the game. I say mostly because I have already messed with them… aka Lara is with Alex right now. Canonically, Alex dies. But isn't fanfiction a way to say, "Screw you!" to Canon? So, for those like you who what to save Alex… my brother is on your side and consistently trying to push me that direction. ;P As to "Rise of the Tomb Raider"… … … There is not much I can say positively about the story characters, Lara included… in my humble opinion.**

 **NoirValor: Yay! You noticed. I'm really glad that it made the scenes easier. Thank you for sending me the advice. There will be a lot of introspection during this story. One of my favorite authors, changed how I saw the characters of Star Wars because he made them think. He showed they were people that could rationalize about things.**

 **Thank you all for reading and reviewing. As always, I hope you enjoy the next chapter of A Tomb Raider Adventure.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5: The Dawn Will Come… and more Damn Wolves.**_

Such a simple gesture… one that has been used by parents, loved ones, friends, significant others, or comrades. Other variations used between waring soldiers meeting at a ceasefire over shared holidays like Christmas. Taking someone's hand could mean any of those things, but in England it was also just a way of saying hello. Yet, as Lara took Alex's hand she could not figure what it was. Was he offering her a lifeline to reality? Was it friends? Or loved ones? It certainly wasn't of a parent to a kid. Lara could feel how warm his hand was though in hers and while her mind couldn't decide what the possible reason was, she wouldn't stop herself from enjoying the comfort and closeness. And while she really wanted to tell him how she wanted to interpret the gesture, she couldn't stomach up the courage. Was she a coward? No. There was just way too much going on. And after all the evil that had happened in the darkness; why not cherish the small rays of light?

Alex and her had started heading up the path further into the mountains. As they climbed the ancient looking stairs she could feel the morning sun rising on her back. However, she and Alex were still very alert to the possibility that they would run into more of the hunters. Lara could feel the desire to not focus on the dark thoughts that still plagued her of the last few hours. Sometimes she would hear screams and tense up only to realize that they were in her head not in reality around her and Alex. There was many things that she wanted to ask Alex about, for while her time had been hell she could only imagine how his was. He winced when putting pressure on different parts of his body that were from the 'tune up' Dutch had given him and were still hurting him greatly. When she would mention it though he just waved it off and would grin and say that it was nothing. Alex had asked only a few questions about when they got separated but had stopped her when she started trembling. Lara wished she could just toughen up and put it behind her like Alex had apparently and she felt weak.

Since she was trying to be more open with Alex she had mentioned how frustrated she was with herself only to have him stop her and give her a hug. She could still hear his works reverberating around her, and she used them to combat her demons when they mentioned what had happened in the village. _"Just remember this Lara, I think you are pretty amazing. Just stay as Lara and I'll try to stay as Alex. Before you know it, we will be back at Nine Bells enjoying a solid beer."_

Lara could feel her face starting to smile as she continued up the path, at least until Alex stumbled next to her, pulling her arm down as he fell on his knee with a grimace.

"Damn! I tripped. Sorry about that." Alex stated as he pulled his hand free and started getting up. Lara could feel something was not right about this just looking at his posture and how pale his face was under the blood.

"Hold on Alex, sit down for a second. We have sometime before we need to continue." Lara sat down next to him and looked down the way they had come. She could hear Alex turn and sit down as well with a shaky breath. "Are you sure you are okay?" She could help but let the worry come through in her voice as her eyes took in the young man. He was bent forward and was gazing down at the ocean of the Dragon's Triangle.

Briefly glancing at her, before turning his gaze back to the waters that had caused their current shipwrecked troubles, he let the minutes tick by before answering. Alex's voice was light as he stated in a terrible British accent. "Oi this? It's just a flesh wound!" He started chuckling to himself until he started coughing.

' _More like gagging than a cough… what is he not telling me?'_ Lara watched closely as Alex spat to the side away from her. Lara could feel her heartbeat start rising when he turned back using his shirt sleeve to wipe his mouth to see a bright red spot near his wrist.

She looked away trying to calm herself as she started to realize what was going on. _'Why do men try to be tougher then they are? Is he afraid that I'll just leave him alone here because he is not doing well?'_

Lara coughed quietly, which instantly got Alex's attention. "You okay?" Lara felt like rolling her eyes at the hypocritical question, but it was just like him so it was somehow endearing.

"Seriously? I would feel a lot better if you would be honest with me, Alex…" Lara glanced over seeing the concern growing in Alex's blue eyes as he watched her. _'Well that's a filthy pot calling the shining kettle black…'_ Lara's psych responded to her, but she suppressed it quickly. _'Being not honest about my_ _ **feelings**_ _is not the same as_ _ **him**_ _not being honest about his_ _ **health**_ _! So be quiet up there.'_

Feeling movement next to her, Lara focused again on Alex. He had run his fingers through his hair as he continued gazing out at the ocean. Quietly he murmured to her, "What do you want me to say Lara?"

' _That you love me!'_ Lara's psyche responded immediately, but she again, though this time with much more effort, pushed it away. _'Seriously not the time!'_ Lara turned slightly toward Alex holding out her hands which he placed his in. She could feel the roughness and grime as she rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. They had scabbed badly, but she could feel her gaze move toward the bright red stain on his sleeve. Finally, her eyes searched his face as she asked dreading the answer.

"If it is just a flesh wound, why are you coughing up blood?" Lara couldn't handle it if the answer was what she though it would be.

Alex's sapphire eyes softened slowly as he rotated his hands to hold hers. Then he tranced the contours of her palms as he replied. "Lara, I'm not trying to be dishonest. I simply don't know. Yes, I am coughing up blood." He grinned briefly before turning serious again. "As you noticed, and of course you would, it is bright red. I don't know what that means or how bad it is. However, I am not going to slow you down from surviving this island." Lara watched a grimness come over him, _'A sort of resolve.'_ "When I told you to run, I made a decision. I will give me life if that is required for you to escape." He suddenly grinned squeezing her hands as his words had painfully squeezed her heart. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me from being able to do that. Trust me, please? If it is the worst, then there is nothing we could do for it."

Coughing for the dryness in her throat, Lara struggled to find the right words. She wished she could give these eloquent complex thoughts into words but all that came out was one. "Why?"

"Why what?" Alex actually looked confused. "Why might I be bleeding or why do I think you will survive?"

"Both."

Alex laughed before starting to cough. "Oh my ribs won't take this." He grimaced, "I'll give you the answer to one question right now. But then you have to answer one of mine. Deal?"

' _Damn that sparkle in his eyes! Fine, if that is how it is going to be.'_ Lara already knew what she wanted to ask, however, she didn't have the courage in the face of death to ask it. "Why do you think I will survive?"

Alex grinned, "Easy, you are a survivor. You have the willpower and fortitude to conquer this island and see the other side of this adventure. But," He looked away for a moment.

"But?"

Sighing Alex continued. "I fear you will lose what makes you… amazing. I fear surviving could cause you to be the girl I met in the village with Dutch."

There was absolute stillness, and the oppressive sound of silence filled the air around them. Lara couldn't in all honesty figure out how to move past the grim prediction Alex had set before them. If this was the type of answers Alex gave to questions she was not sure how many she would really want answered. She didn't want to be that dark girl, screaming and killing people. She didn't want to become the person who would contemplate Alex as the enemy because he disagreed with her. She could feel the fear and horror coming like a tide of the sea toward her. It wanted to drown her, pull her under and destroy the light. Suddenly, Lara felt a warm hand cup her cheek as she opened her eyes to see Alex's shimmer. The hand was like an anchor holding her here with him. As he gently broke the silence. "Remember this moment, Lara. This feeling of pain, humanity, loss and… hope. Then maybe, you can survive and maintain being the incredible person who you are meant to be. Don't compromise the purpose of surviving by becoming like the monsters we are fighting. Hold on to that!"

Alex's voice was rising in conviction with a sureness and confidence that seemed to fill Lara's soul with strength. Slowly, lowering the volume he continued, "Believe it, breathe it and live it."

Lara felt the warmth pull away as Alex leaned back. "Now," Lara opened her eyes at the complete change of tone in his voice. "I think it's my turn to ask a question." She could see the pained grin on his face. "Are you ready to continue on?"

"Really?" Lara could feel her eyebrows arching. "That is what you would ask? Out of anything?"

"Of course not, however, now is not time for the question I want to ask. Especially, if I am going to get my wish of seeing you survive."

They both struggled to their feet, one more with physical pain and the other emotional. Lara knew she would never forget this moment if she lived. The two of them staring at the ocean in the light of the dawn together side by side.

But now was the time for action and finding Roth.

* * *

They had journeyed for a little bit until they came to a cliff with a rope ladder extended down the face of it. Ominously, the wind blew and the ladder swung back and forth. Lara watched as Alex's face went pale as they looked on their next challenge. With the knowledge of the climb they would need to do to reach Roth, Lara could feel her thigh start aching again.

Alex step forward toward the ladder and pulled hard and then placed his weight on it. Besides the wind it seemed steady and reliable. "Shall we climb?" Alex looked over at her. "And if so, who wants to go first up the scary cliff with this wind blowing?"

"Well, do you think Roth went this direction?" Lara was not scared of heights, but that didn't mean she wanted to do this climb for shits and giggles.

Shrugging in frustration, Alex shook his head. "I have no idea. You know Roth better than I do, do you think he went this way?"

Lara looked around them. There didn't seem to be many other options for them to do and Roth would have had absolutely no problem climbing the cliff with or without a rope ladder. She could see that Alex didn't want to climb at all, but the phrase of _'keep moving'_ stated what they must do. Up… or back… and back was not an option.

Alex sighed seeing her make up her mind. He gestured toward the ladder. "Ladies first, and if you slip I'll be here to try to catch you."

Laughing Lara stepped forward, she suddenly felt playful and the levity was needed. "Thank you noble sir, however, I think you really just want to be able to look at my butt as we climb."

Alex's face went from very pale to a deep scarlet as he started stammering… Lara didn't wait though as she started to climb leaving him to make up his mind and follow her.

Despite the playful banter, Lara was having a hard time. Every time she put her weight on her left leg her thigh would spasm painfully. And given that they ladder had to be fifty rungs at least she was looking at twenty-five to thirty spasms. Slipping was not an option as it would cause not just her death if she fell but also, Alex's who was behind her. What made it all worse though was hearing Alex gasp for breath every so often. Whatever his body was going through it sounded terrible and Lara feared she would hear him fall at any moment.

They had made it halfway when as Lara was placing her weight on her left leg, her radio went off. Her leg gave out as she desperately grabbed at the ladder but slid down toward Alex. She was stopped by a hand taking a firm grip of her butt as she finally got hold of the ladder again. Lara knew in a corner of her mind that Roth was saying something to her, but her heart was in her mouth for more than one reason. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lara heard Alex mention that she should answer Roth and gentle pushed her up a rung, so she could get a better grip. Lara could hear her psyche screaming at her in blissful happiness about what had just happened, but Lara knew she needed to focus or they would die here on the cliff face.

Getting a firm grasp on the rope ladder, Lara grabbed her radio. "Roth?"

"Lara! It's good to hear your voice girl. Where are you?"

"On a cliff face, we just went through a village and it was horrible Roth." Lara could feel her voice catch as the memories started to resurface in her mind. "There were these men Roth, and they were killing people it was horrible. I had to kill them and…"

"Never mind that Lara. Are you alright? Are you safe?"

"Yes…"

"I know it must have been hard."

"It's scary just how easy it was…" Lara could feel the darkness approaching crowding around her. She stopped though, _'Believe it. Breathe it. Live it.'_

"There was nothing you could do. Listen Lara, can you keep going?"

"Yes, Alex and I are determined to continue on."

"Alex is with you?" Lara could hear the surprise in Roth's voice.

"Yes, but he is really beat up." Lara smiled down on Alex. "We both are." Alex gave her a tight grin before motioning that they should continue soon. The wind started to pick up and Lara shivered as it chilled her deep to the bone.

"Lara, from the cliff it is not far to get to me. You'll go through a canyon and then enter another village. It's been empty for quite a while though."

There are many reasons for perseverance, one is that after all the work already done, you can't stop until its completely finished. Lara could feel the exhaustion coming over her but she knew that there was not to much further until rest.

"Okay Roth, we are on our way."

They were answered with silence, which dragged on for a few minutes. Alex and Lara looked at each other before continuing. They needed to find Roth and they would be damn careful about it as they went. They eventually got to the top of the cliff and Lara couldn't help looking out over the spectacular view in front of them. The ocean shone a gorgeous blue and the stark contrast of the green vibrant trees and grey stones of the hills complimented each other well. There was many reasons to find the place beautiful and yet the darkness that was dissipating was not enough to quell the memories.

The quiet low whistle beside her drew Lara's attention. There was a shock of realizing that for the moment she was not alone, but the real shock was that Alex had backed up and was holding his hands like a fake camera. Taking her picture as he briefly commented "Now that is the picture that will win me millions."

"Hey! I didn't give you the right to take my picture." Lara responded with a big grin on her face. She shoved his shoulder lightly as he continued to chuckle.

"Yes, you did." Alex stated confidently. "Did you not read the Terms and Conditions of your contract?"

Lara gaped at him until she remembered the reference. _'Dang that was a good moment. Of course, Sam royally ruined it for me, but…'_ She stepped closer to Alex looking him in the eye. "Didn't you read the contract and you told Sam that we didn't handover our personal lives?"

Leaning in Alex grinned, mischief dancing in his blue eyes. "That is true, my life… not yours." Lara could feel his breath on her face as his eyes tranced her lips, as he continued. "Though, if you would rather not… I could just stop trying to help." Lara could feel the tension between them pulling hard and she just wanted to give in. Alex was so close, this would be perfect to just reach up pull him down for a kiss, yet something stopped her. She wasn't sure what but although her thoughts and desires wanted a certain outcome she knew it wasn't the time.

In her struggle though all she could manage to say was a breathy "Help?"

Sapphire eyes tranced her face before settling on hers. "Well, that is what I am trying to do… but someone is rather stubborn. And, I am not sure how much help that person wants… she is really obscure and gives me mixed signals."

"I give mixed signals?!" Lara couldn't believe her ears. _'I guess I have given some, but seriously!'_

The moment between them was ruined as Alex's radio went off as a deep voice rasped. "Alex? Alex are you there? This is Dutch… I am back in the Temple."

Disappointment would be the best word for Lara to use about how she felt as Alex pulled away grabbing his radio. _'We had finally made some progress, and this could have been our moment.'_ Lara knew she should have been focusing on Alex talking to Dutch, however she was having a hard time focusing on anything, but the moment lost. Lara tried to, when she noticed Alex messing with his radio. It was frustrating, and Lara's psyche was not letting it go easily.

"Dutch? You made it back to the Temple?" Alex was talking quietly and quickly, his sharp eyes focusing on something far off in the distance.

"Ja!" The deep raspy voice replied.

"Have you found our friend yet? Her name is Sam."

"Nein. I have not seen her."

Lara sighed feeling the pain of losing her friend to the island and its inhabitants. There was not much that could go well here and suddenly she felt suspicious of Dutch. How could they be sure that he was actually telling them the truth and not lying to lead them into a trap? Not to mention when the last time they saw Dutch he was beating Alex to a pulp. Beating him to the point where he was now coughing up blood. Lara had some CPR training and First Aid understanding before Roth was willing to let her hike with him up Snowden and the 14ers in Colorado. Coughing up blood was understandably not okay, but there was nothing that Lara could think of to do to help… and that frustrated her SO much.

"But I have seen another of your friends…"

Lara could feel both her and Alex stiffen at Dutch's words. _'Who could possibly be at the temple? Reyes, Grim and Jonah? Not possible they were further down the mountain from them looking for Sam. So who?_

"What does he look like?" Alex wasn't going to try some stupid name game with someone who wouldn't know.

Dutch's voice got quite for a second before grumbling. "Tall, white, blonde hair, glasses…"

"Egotistical? Walks around like he owns the place?"

There was surprise hidden in Dutch's voice. "Uhh, Ja?"

Alex and Lara gave each other knowing looks as they stated in unison. "Doctor Whitman."

"Whitman… Ja! Sounds right." Dutch sounded confused though as he continued. "He is walking around free, does not make sense."

Anger flooded in her heart as Lara grounded her teeth in pain. She tried to talk but nothing came out, she realized she was just so, so angry. Alex just shook his head though not at her, "He betrayed us Dutch. That's how you and I met." Alex started coughing again but shrugged off Lara as she leaned toward him in concern.

Thankfully, Dutch didn't seem to push or ask anything for a while. They all just kept working through all the complex thoughts that they had to think about. The idea that not only was Doctor Whitman alive, but could be working with their enemies. Like all betrayal, it hurt. It hurt a lot, Lara just couldn't believe that anyone would be willing to betray their friends to the horror that she and Alex had already experienced. Sure, some people, like Doctor Whitman, were not very close to the crew and her but still! Betrayal?

There was so much difficulty in what they faced so now having an ally turned enemy would only make everything harder.

"Dutch, you there?" Alex brow was furrowed as thinking a hard about something.

"Ja Alex?"

"Does it look like he is helping Mathias or just wandering around?"

The giant of a man paused in thought before he continued. "Far as I know, he is free to wander around. More than that do I not know."

"So… he might not be working with Mathias?" Alex muttered to Lara, "He might not be as bad as we are thinking right now."

Lara felt the tension realize from her shoulders, yet she could feel a nagging thought that all was not well, and she would at some point regret the choices of the illustrious and egotistical Doctor James Whitman. However, they didn't have proof about any obvious betrayal of the man except his cowardice in the face of danger. If he ever did betray them though, she hoped she would lose anyone important to her in the process. Lara's eyes scanned Alex as he started muttering into the radio again. Lara was puzzled by why her radio was not activating as well.

"Dutch, thank you. Please let us know if you find anything about Sam and the time table for the ritual."

"Of course," The man rumbled back, "and Alex… don't call me, I will call you. Out."

Alex turned and looked over at Lara. She could see in his eyes his thoughts dancing around trying to find answers and make up some sort of plan that they could use. Thankfully though, the originally plan still worked. Find Roth.

Rising quickly despite her leg throbbing painfully, she helped Alex up. They brushed themselves off and started heading back up the path. The old carefree banter that they had once enjoyed was forgotten as their minds continued pondering on the current events. Lara latched onto a key point and voiced it to her compatriot.

"Can we trust Dutch?"

Laughing raggedly Alex continued on, "Of course not. No matter how much I want to like him, he is a potential enemy. Can we use him? Yes. But, he could easily betray us."

"Like lead us into a trap?"

"Yes… he could. Or lie about Whitman."

Heat flooded her face as Lara chastised herself. _'Of course, the man might be lying about Whitman to get us to distrust each other. If there were traitors in our midst we wouldn't know who to trust. And I was so willing to just believe Dutch. Idiot!'_

"Of course, he might be telling the truth." Alex continued with a grimace on his face. "I don't want to believe it but, the good Doctor has not inspired much loyalty and trust from his actions so far."

There were many instances in Lara's life where she would say she was greatly impacted. Or she could say she had to evolve in some way to survive. These seemed like one of those moments for her. The quandary of not being sure if someone was on her side or against her. Not knowing the truth… This had been a deep scar she had, and it was continuously with her. This nagging, desperate need to know the truth. To find not only important facts, or lost relics but the hidden truths around her. Facts were neither truth or lie, they were impartial, they didn't focus on the issues around them. Truth or lies can lead to facts being created. Lara had so many examples she could take from to prove this… Her father was dead: shot by a semi-automatic pistol. Fact. Was it suicide? Truth or lie? No one knew for sure. Roth had told her as she grew up still questioning the events in her mind that her father had been extremely depressed. When her mother had died, she had lost not just one parent but both. Her father had been obsessed with his work and like almost all obsessions, it had failed him. In the face of that failure, he had taken his life. Still… _'Truth or Lie?'_ The question had burned into her mind since her father's death and stayed there like a parasite refusing to leave a host: only willing to be suppressed but not removed.

Now though, Lara could feel another fact vs truth/lie in the problematic state they found themselves in. _'Fact, Dutch had let them go. For the sake of a trap? Truth or lie? Unsure. Actions were easy to determine and categorize, rational and motivations were extremely hard. Almost impossible. Whitman had betrayed them. Fact. Was he still trying to betray them? Truth or lie? Did Whitman even see it that way though? Or crazier still, did Whitman feel betrayed by Alex and her leaving him?'_

The last thought threw Lara into a pondering state that was better left alone. There was only so much she was willing to care about, and the value of the personal feelings of Whitman didn't equate to being raped by a Russian monster. However, Dutch's words from their one and only meeting with him started to spring into her mind.

' " _I might never see my boys and wife again. But, I can't allow your friend to die for nothing." '_

What that meant, _'die for nothing'_ had made sense to Alex at the moment and Lara knew now was the time to talk. If Dutch was to help Alex's friend, and she could only assume that was Sam not Whitman, since Dutch sounded surprised to even _see_ Whitman there, why would Sam die? Lara could think about a great many terrible things that she shuddered to consider happening to Sam, and really guessing was not going to do her any favors. Facts would be the only satisfactory information for her.

Lara looked over at Alex. He was staring off in the distance contemplating the difficult position they were all in. The crazy and potentially wonderful idea of an ally on the inside to help them out would be amazing. But like Alex had put so bluntly, he could just as easily betray them. How to find out which was which would take time.

Breaking the silence as quietly as she could though it sounded like a thunderclap to her ears Lara got his attention, "Alex, what was Dutch talking about when he said that he wouldn't allow for our friend to die for nothing?"

The question was as honest a one as could be expected of her. She needed to know the truth. She could see Alex was wrestling with thoughts in his head as he contemplated how to respond. After a moment he just shrugged. "Honestly Lara, I am not sure about it." He looked back out at the sea before continuing. "Dutch mentioned to me that Mathias, the man you met in the woods with Sam," He looked at Lara quickly while she nodded. "thinks that there is a ritual which will… appease… the island spirit." At this point, Alex looked super uncomfortable he obviously didn't really but much credence to the mental state of Mathias. "These girls are all sacrificed and supposedly if they find the right one, they will all be free to leave the island."

Horror gripped at Lara's heart as she tried to grasp the significance in Alex's words. She was having a hard time understanding really how desperate these men must be to go to the lengths of ritual murder.

However, Alex wasn't finished. "It sounds like LC, that they burn the girls alive at the stake like the old Roman Catholic Church did to heretics in the fourteen hundreds. Mathias states that it is for the Sun Queen, to appease her so they can leave." Alex just shook his head as he continued speaking and finally got quiet, "I think Mathias plans to do that to Sam."

Lara just sat there taking all this in. It seemed to crazy, something that would come out of a Horror Film or a wacky novel. Or… something from history. There was definitely an aura of cultist mentality in the likes of Father Mathias who she had met. If he was leading the cult than everything was worse than could be imagined. Her mind went to the cave where she had woken up on the first time she was on the island. She remembered the girl hanging there and the idea came to her mind that this must have been one of the victims that Father Mathias had used to 'satisfy' the Sun Queen. It really made no sense, and it was stupid waste of human life. However, most cults don't really care about the loss of life as long as they aren't the ones giving up _their_ lives for it.

"Alex, what do we do?" Lara could feel the helplessness of their situation, and really, she wasn't expecting Alex to have a plan of action.

The young man sighed beside her, "Continue on in the knowledge we have, and when we find out more about Sam and where she might be… we will go from there." There was almost a defeated sound to his voice.

"She's alive though right? You don't think she is dead?"

Shedding like one would a cloak, Alex removed his glumness and grinned at her. "I would only be so lucky!"

"Hey!"

"Just imagine!" Alex's eyes gleamed as he spread his arms out demonstrating the theoretical future. "No crazy interruptions! No one jumping out videotaping us! No annoying quips! No more covering her ass on assignments! We would be so lucky!"

Lara glowered at him though she could feel her lips twitching at the corners to rise. "True, but…"

Stilling grinning Alex nodded, "We would lose a friend. I just wanted to put the positives out there too."

Lara slapped him on the shoulder, "Of course you were you rogue. Lets keep moving or Roth will think we got lost following such a straightforward path. Which," She looked into Alex's eyes, "he would never let us forget."

"You know him better than me." Grinning Alex started walking up the path. He stopped looking over his shoulder and held out his hand to Lara. "You coming?"

Lara couldn't help smiling as she took his hand… _'Keep moving… they never said that it couldn't be fun, dangerous and exciting, did they?'_

* * *

They had only been moving forward for about an hour and the sun had risen enough that Lara was guessing it must be around 7 in the morning. Only while she had been enjoying the time walking and talking with Alex, the pleasure of championship was immense. The conversation had not been deep and had been more functional, but it had been amazingly relaxing.

The relaxation ended instantly as the sharp sound of a gun firing up ahead of them. Quickly, Alex pulled out his 1911 as Lara armed herself with her bow. They looked at each other and then headed toward the sound. _'We are survivors ready for our next challenge.'_ They came out of a canyon to seeing several wolves lying on the ground either dead or dying. They could hear a man yelling.

"Aggh! Get Back!" More gunshots as Lara recognized the voice with a gut-wrenching feeling.

"Roth?!"

"Go on, get out of here! Go on! You bastard!" The gruff voice continued yelling.

"Roth!" Lara called out running while gesturing to Alex to hurry.

One wolf was charging toward a tall, ragged, grey haired man firing two Berettas. _'Roth!'_ The last wolf died as Roth fell down exhausted, dragging himself toward and propping himself up against a rock. Lara charged full speed to her dear friend falling down on her knees next to him. Quickly she could see terrible damage to his body. Roth was just gathering his breath, but Lara's eyes locked on to his leg. A huge section of his lower leg was gone, and it looked quite recent. _'Damn! That is not good at all.'_

"Thank God you're alive." Lara looked over at Alex as she grabbed some cloth and ripped it as she tried to make a tourniquet and she wrapped it around this around his leg. Alex watched unsure before deciding to keep watch over them as Lara tried to stop the bleeding on Roth's leg.

"That god's got nothing to do with it." Roth gasped out heavily, then he gave her a slight smile. "It's good to see you too, girl."

Lara set back her shoulders and was about to finish the tourniquet. The wound looked terrible and Lara could feel her stomach twist horribly. "Sorry. They did a real number on your leg." Lara murmured as Roth cried out in pain.

"It looks worse that it is."

Lara took a breath after finishing her work. Leaning back she looked at Roth as he continued grimacing over the pain. "Have you heard from any of the others?"

"Nothing." Roth slowly started to raise himself to his feet despite the looks of dismay on Lara and Alex's faces.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Lara's voice broke from her concern.

"The wolves," Roth stated slowly, "took my food pack. The transmitter from the lifeboat's in it. If we don't get that back, we're not getting off this bloody island."

While this was most likely very true, Lara knew Roth wasn't going anywhere. "Yeah, but you need… you need bandages, morphine, antiseptic…"

"Also in the pack."

Lara placed her hands on her hips while Alex watched quietly. "Shit."

"Exactly" Roth agreed, he reached out his arm to Lara. "Come here… come on." Thankfully Roth had a camp not more that five meters away but still he leaned heavily on Lara as they made three laborious steps before Lara felt Roth become a dead weight.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no." Roth just collapsed regardless of Lara's attempts to hold him up as he fainted. Thankfully, Alex had sprung to action and caught Roth before he had hit the ground and slowly lowered him the rest of the way. Instantly, Lara was all over Roth trying to determine his state. She knew she was rambling but she didn't care. "Oh, don't do this to me you Northern Bastard." She got up, as the shock went through her and did a few steps before swirling to Alex who was still kneeling next to Roth's body. _'His body…'_ The dark thought danced through her mind. Her hands pressed to her head as thought to banish the thought before looking toward Alex.

"Do you know CPR? Is he alive? Okay we've got this…" She fell to her knees across from Alex as she held her hands over his body. She could feel and see them shaking as she kept repeating, "Okay, okay, okay."

She felt her trembling hands taken into warm ones as her head jerked up to investigate two startlingly deep sapphire pools. "Lara," Alex steadily spoke, "let's move him back to the campfire." Jerking a nod which thankfully Alex understood, and he got up and gently dragged Roth's body to the campfire. This gave Lara a moment to catch her breath and calm down, if only somewhat.

Once there, Lara hurried over to Roth and checked the pulse point on his neck. Underneath her two fingers she could feel the steady throb of his pulse. Relief washed over her as she sat back. "Thank God, he's still alive." She looked around and then up at Alex. But before she could say anything to him though, a wolf howled in the forest around them. Lara could feel the anger mixed with the fear swell inside of her. _'We need to get that pack, but Roth might need first aid before we can get it. And even not, we can't leave him alone. Something or someone might find and kill him in his current state.'_

She got up and walked from the fire and knelt down next to some tracks. "Wolf tracks, oh God, what am I doing?"

"I could say the same thing."

Lara turned to see Alex crossing his arms over his chest. His handsome, but blood and dirt stained, face grim and stern. The hopelessness of their situation came over her. _'I can't lose Roth, not him too.'_ To Alex she thought of just what the correct words would be to convene the tasks they had. Thankfully, Alex was willing to wait for her to form them and it only took a few moments.

"Alex, we need the food bag that has the medicines and…" Lara stopped as Alex raised his hand.

"I already know Lara… but LC the question is what are _you_ doing?" Somehow it felt completely unfair that Alex was able to make both her name and her nickname sound amazing when he said it. _'But that is not the point right now! I need to get that bag. I need to save Roth!'_

"Alex, I need to go get the food pack. I _need_ to! We need to save Roth."

"Of course Lara," Alex nodded. "however, I disagree. Now hold on!" Alex raised his hand before Lara could interrupt him. "I am not saying we should not go and find the pack. But, I think that we need to be smart about this."

Sighing Lara could see the intelligence in what Alex was saying. She was going to just run off while being high on emotion. "You're right. You should stay here and keep Roth safe while I go and get the pack."

"I can't do that." Lara could feel the frown at Alex's words but he continued. "Lara, I don't know CPR First Aid. What if Roth needs that before you get back? Believe me, I don't want to go to a wolf den, but given our skill sets you should stay here."

Lara hated it… she really did. Every time Alex had gone into danger it had bad results. And this plan did that again. Of course, she would stay safe, just waiting for him to come back to her hopefully. However, she couldn't see a logical reason why they should not do it Alex's way. Slowly, she nodded her head in agreement. _'He could die though…'_ Lara's psyche mentioned quietly.

"Okay Alex, we will do it your way."

"Heya…" Alex stepped next to her and put his hands gently on her shoulders. "Are you okay with this? If not tell me now. Do you have a better idea for us to do?"

Tears seemed to be very much a dear friend to her. Lara could feel them building up at Alex's tender kind tone. However, there was nothing that she could think of that they could do. It was frustrating but they could not really do anything but what Alex recommended.

Lara nodded again more forcefully, and she watched the concern leave Alex's face as he grinned. "I'll be back before you know it." He set his bag down on the ground next to Roth as he started heading in the direction of the howling wolf.

Watching him leave as he started making his way toward where the wolf had been, Lara murmured. "Be Safe."

She turned back and sat down next to Roth and watched the man who once kept her heart while the one who held it walked into danger. _'With a grin on his face.'_

* * *

' _Sail into a storm… Let me go fight the wolves… You go first…. Why oh why did these damn wolves need to be up on a cliff?!'_ Alex thought to himself as he headed in the direction of the cave. Sure, he would rather have Lara be safe next to Roth at the camp but, really. Climbing through a village and slowly making his way toward the wolves was not in his skill set. _'All the crazy stuff that you do to impress a girl I guess.'_ He was working hard on making his jumps from object to object. All the while praying that nothing broke under him.

As he climbed though through the ancient village, he kept noticing the fat statues that looked like they were _supposed_ to be women. _'Not very flattering portrayal but hey! Everyone's got a type I guess.'_ Alex looked around and saw the B52 bomber wreck that was supported barely on the cliff. ' _With my luck, I am going to have to climb on that at some point.'_

Of course, his intuition was correct, after trying several times to get up a couple buildings and leaping from their roofs the to B52 he scrambled along with his heart firmly in his month until he got a set of convenient cliffs which he climbed. Suddenly, here he was at the caves mouth and from the prints on the ground it looked like the right place.

He made the rookie mistake again looking down below him toward where he left Lara and Roth. His stomach did a painful flop in his body and he winced. It was easily one hundred feet below him or as Lara would calculate it thirty and a half meters. _'I'll never understand the metric system.'_ He shook his head looking back at the cave and then at the camp. _'Given how hard it was to get up here for me, why and how would these wolves do it?'_ Alex puzzled to himself about it as he drew his 1911 and carefully advanced into the cave. _'These must be super wolves, carefully bred by Kryptonians to fly like Superman.'_ Alex gave himself a chuckle as he kept going. His lighter was in one hand and his gun in the other. In several places he coached low until he got threw the tight spaces and he groaned through the pain in his stomach.

He could hear the wolves growling and snarling around him, but he kept resolutely on. However, he could feel his sweat greasing his palms as he stalked his prey: a lonely backpack. He found it in a large open space. Quickly he attached it over his shoulders and quickly looked around for anything useful. There wasn't anything besides bones and scraps of cloth which, Alex couldn't think of a use for and so turned around to leave. As he hunched down to go through the small tunnel he was hit by a snarling mass of rank fur and sharp shinning teeth.

Instinct took over as Alex blocked the wolves mouth going for his throat with its teeth by using his arm. Literally shoving it into its jaws, it bit down. Alex cried out as the sharp pain erupted along his arm. However, he recovered quickly. He had dropped his gun as he fell but swinging his right hand he pummeled the wolf's face and eyes repeatedly until it went limp. Shoving hard with his feet he flipped the wolf over onto its back with him on top. Shifting his weight, Alex pressed his knees to the wolf's rip cage and applying pressure he heard the crack and suddenly the wolf went still. Alex pried his arm from the wolf's mouth as he got up and found his lighter and his gun.

He knew the wolf was dead and there was no reason to waste ammo, but he really wanted to fill that damn creature full of lead. Alex panted for a minute until he got his breath back in its normal range. He could feel the sticky fluid in his mouth and so he spat out the stream of blood that had pooled in his mouth during the fight. He swept his hand across his mouth as he shook his head. _'Whatever it is that is wrong with me, it is getting worse not better. Dammit all. Well, I might as well head back down to Lara. She is expecting this medication and boy does Roth need it.'_

Alex turned and headed down toward the camp. It was a long way and he had to take it very slowly. Now that his ribs, legs, sides, chest, head and left arm all throbbed in pain. Alex grinned at his right arm, _'I guess you are next my friend. You are the only one not on the pain wagon.'_ He chuckled at the dark humor, but he continued for no other reason then at least Lara could stop worrying.

Getting down took him a long time though. He desperately wished that there was some mechanism that would have allowed him to fly down as though he was riding a zip line however, convenient things like that only exist in movies and games. Not in ancient creepy cult villages. Finally, he walked into camp.

* * *

' _Why did I let Alex talk me into this?'_ Lara stared after Alex. Sometimes she could make him out as he tried to climb up to where the wolves apparently had their den. She would be lying if she stated that she was scared about being without Alex next to hear. So many of the worst things that had happened to her so far on the island had been when she was on her own. But, when she was honest she was sitting here potentially watching Roth die while _Alex_ was off trying to survive wolves by himself. Sure, he was a very good shot, what happens if they are not far away but quite close, what if they surprise him? What if he dies?

All Lara could do though was wait until Alex came back and check Roth's pulse. Roth needed a lot of medical attention; his leg was the biggest worry. The massive chunk that was missing in his leg would most likely get infected, so he would need to have an antiseptic that was really powerful. Hopefully, Alex would be able to find the medicine. _'Dammit Lara just stop worrying about it. Alex will find it and if not, we will find out what to do then next. No worries just focus on nothing but Roth staying alive.'_

But focusing on all the possible things that could go wrong was so much easier and…

Well, it was a really difficult time of waiting that Lara had and it felt like it took around thirty minutes before she saw Alex walking toward her. She could feel the happiness bubbling up in her as she ran quickly and threw her arms around him and just held him close. There was that deep satisfaction of holding him, and realizing he was okay. Alex gently pried Lara off him and handed her the bag containing the vital supplies they needed to patch up Roth.

Taking the bag, Lara knelt down next to Roth again and started applying a medical salve to his leg and then following up with a quick injection to prevent any infection. She and Alex then wrapped up Roth's leg in bandages and were left to hope that there was not going to be any permanent damage to the man. Once they were sure he wouldn't begin bleeding again, Lara undid the tourniquet allowing the precious blood do its critical work in maintaining and healing the leg. Thankfully, Roth didn't wake up through this process and it gave them now some time to look at their own injuries.

As much as she didn't want to Lara knew that they would need to clot her injury in her thigh. She saw the antiseptic that she could use to clean her leg but they didn't have an antibiotic so if she had an infection in her leg she would be in deep shit. Lara looked over to see that Alex had been observing her for a while. "What?"

Shaking his head he smiled. "Just thinking. Anyway, what should we do now? Roth is asleep, which I hope is good."

"We need to tend to my leg. If it is infected there really isn't much we can do for it." Lara spoke with a detachment of inevitability. She fully thought that her leg must be infected by now.

"And if it isn't infected?" Alex's steadily asked.

"We are going to need to seal it closed to prevent infection." Alex winced at her words but seemed to set his face and nodded. But as Lara continued she could see him getting whiter. "We are going to need to do searing to the back of my leg and you are going to have to stitch the front so that I can get at it if it does become infected."

"Wait… what?" Alex's eyes were large in his disbelieving face. "You want me to do what?"

Lara sighed, "Alex, I need you to basically clean the front and back of the injury. Then heat up one of my arrows and burn the back of my leg. The burn will seal my leg from any possible bleeding and from further infection."

"O my… okay… okay." She watched Alex take some deep breaths calming himself. "Then what?"

Pride filled Lara's heart watching this man trying to address the ugliness of what was about to happen do it so calmly and setting his shoulders to be the help she really needed right then. _'This one's a keeper but I knew that already. I think Dad would have really liked him.'_

"The next step is to do it again with the front of my leg. But this time using a needle and tread to… stitch the would closed."

Vivid blue eyes stared at her, blinked once and then continued their deep burning path through her into her soul. "This is going to hurt a lot isn't."

"Yes," Lara swallowed the lump in her throat. "yes, it will hurt extremely, but it must be done."

The eyes hardened in Alex's face, "Is there anything I can get to help?"

"No, we don't have the time to do that." Lara shook her head causing her pony tail to swish back and forth. "The faster you can do it the better."

"Okay."

Alex and Lara got everything ready, or at least as much as they could do. With the tools they had chosen arranged around her; Lara laid down on her stomach as Alex with his knife cut around the bloody hole. Lara could feel his hands applying the pressure and removing a donut shaped piece of her pants and gently pulling it free of the wound. The pain was terrible, but Lara knew that it was _nothing_ compared to what was about to happen. Alex took some gauss and started to gently but firmly clean the wound. Lara tried her best not to make any noise but Alex just ignored it all apparently. Once he had it clean, Lara felt him lean back and she closed her eyes knowing then next part.

 _Click… click… click…_ She could hear Alex starting the lighter and heating one of her arrows. In the next few moments the silence was unbearable to Lara. She could just barely make out Alex muttering something, and she felt the wind speaking its formless words; mocking her and her… _'friend? boyfriend? I am going to need to figure out which one is the case soon. I'm starting to go crazy.'_

' _Just starting?'_ Lara's psyche sardonically responded. _'Let us have a moment of honesty please! You have been crazy ever since your dad died.'_

' _True, but not crazy about boys! Never had a boyfriend before.'_ Lara replied hotly.

' _Well you have never tried! Besides, you might have ruined your chances with this one.'_

' _Why would you say something like that! And as too not trying… no one caught my eye.'_ Lara could feel herself getting indignant.

Her psyche was not done mocking her it seemed. _'Really? You have had months to try with one that 'caught my eye' but you didn't! You were a coward! And now every moment that you have had to do_ something _about it you haven't! If you are going crazy it is your own damn fault!'_

' _But I…'_

"Lara are you ready?" The gentle kind voice asked behind. It broke Lara out of her private debate.

"Yes, just make sure to hold it down long enough to properly seal it." Lara was thankful, even though she was arguing with herself she seemed like she always lost…

"Okay… okay… this is really going to hurt."

There were no words known to man to describe the intense pain Lara felt. The burning searing nature of the method they had to use was so painful Lara could only think of one thing. Her mind blocked out the sound of her screaming, the gentle, insistent voice _apologizing_ as he applied the pressure and held her down. The spasms her body went into to try to escape from the pitiless metal that was scarring her flesh. All she could think of as her eyes glazed over was the fierce agony; she felt like it lasted for eternity and this was to be her torment in Hell. The pain was so bad that even after Alex had pulled the metal away she could still feel it there. She could smell her flesh being burnt.

She felt herself be picked up and slowly gently rocked as she sobbed from the pain she felt. Slowly, the pain started to fade only to be replaced with the dull throbbing ache as her body complained about the vicious treatment it had just endured. She could feel the rough hands gently wiping away her tears as she wept into Alex's shirt. However, he just kept rocking her and mummering something into her hair

They must have stayed in that position for a good quarter of an hour before Lara regained enough to go onto the next vital step. Alex resisted admirably, but eventually gave way to the steely determination of Lara to go on.

And so, they did. Alex performed the same pattern of events. Cutting and pulling away pant material; then cleaning the wound with gauss and antiseptic. Leading to the heating of the needle to sew her leg closed. Lara could tell that Alex was just barely holding it together himself as she cried out in pain as the hot needle pierced her tender thigh. She just grabbed his shoulder and for a second their eyes met; sad blue and pained brown before Alex focused on his tasked and started to firmly sew. He didn't know what he was doing but the logical parts of his mind that she liked so much must have realized the importance of keeping them neat straight lines. While, it hurt it was nothing compared to the intense pain the burning had been. After five minutes Alex was down. He set down the needle and quickly wrapped her thigh in clean bandages from the first aid kit. Lara just kept panting waiting for the trauma in her leg to subside, so they could move on to the next item in their to-do list. _'Make out?'_ Lara's psyche smirked at her.

Mortified Lara screamed back _'Absolutely not! Now be quite unless you have something useful to say.'_

Lara propped herself up on her elbows and watched Alex do the final touches to her leg. She realized she must look terrible given the nature of all that had happened. _'Not me at my most attractive I guess…'_

Alex looked over at her briefly before getting up and checking up on Roth again, being satisfied that he was still sleeping he walked back to her.

"Thank you, Alex," Lara saw the startled disbelieving look in his eyes before he looked back at the village around them. She would not let it slide though. "no, seriously… you most likely saved my life just now."

He let out a quiet chuckle before looking at her again. "I wish I could say 'Glad to help!' but I never what to have to do that again."

Lara started chuckling too. Humor was infectious in its own way. "I can definitely say that I never what to have to go through that again too."

It did her heart good to see that her words caused he to genially smile at her. Then her eyes went to his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." At that Alex leaned over and vomited some blood. He wiped his mouth quickly trying to make it a 'no big deal'.

' _Yep! He is most certainly doing OKAY!'_

Lara was not in the mood for any bullshit and she just grabbed Alex's arm and on inspection "okay" was just the right word to use. Lara could see the left sleeve was stained and underneath Alex's forearm was red and swollen. She could make out the jagged scratches that looked like a wolf had decided his arm was its lunch. Lara grabbed some gauss and antiseptic as she cleaned Alex's arm. During this she realized she was just scolding him about letting some damn wolves make a chew toy out of his arm.

Alex just grinned at her as she wrapped his arm in a bandage. "What?" Lara looked at him and then back at what she was working on self-consciously. "You shouldn't let yourself get hurt."

"Oh nothing, you're just really cute when you are upset."

Lara felt the heat rise on her face as she decides to ignore it. "Whatever, you need to rest for a bit while I go find you some herbs."

As Lara got up to leave Alex grabbed her arm. "Hold on, lets just rest for a moment." He gestured to her to sit down next to him by the fire. Which of course she did. The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes before Alex asked quietly.

"Tell me about Roth?"

* * *

 **As always please tell me what you think :D**


	9. Chapter 6: Reflections

_**Heya Everyone! If you haven't noticed from the update this is a smaller chapter. I am seeing what happens if I don't make one chapter that is like 10k words once every 6 weeks… Life is crazy, and I have been traveling the entire month of May… it has been wonderfully but not convenient for writing especially when visiting with three 'things' that demand a lot of attention. :D**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think as I really appreciate it and it is so encouraging to know that you guys are enjoying it.**_

 _ **Now… to my favorite part… Review Replies**_

 _ **Guest 1: Glad you liked the chapter! As to the sequel… maybe. However, if Alex lived I am not sure necessarily how he would fit in Rise. I would have to change the entire plot line for it to make sense in my mind. Not to mention… I am so late with these chapters as it is, can you imagine how long it would take me to do Rise? :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **Kit: Yep! Another update after a long wait… seems to be my status quo. ;) Alex is not doing well. However, I won't be killing him off outside of the storyline if that does happen. It's a pretty heroic way to go. As to the coughing up blood… I think you are hitting it right on the head. I did it with a lot of thought and research as to its repercussions the injury might have.**_

 _ **DarthTroubleMaker: It's great to be back! If making them too cute is a problem I could find a solution… ;) As to interruptions… no promises, no promises… evil chuckle**_

 _ **Guest 2: Me alegra que te guste la historia hasta ahora! Intento sacar capítulos lo más regularmente posible. :)**_

 _ **As always, I don't own Tomb Raider or any of these characters. :D**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Reflections**

"Tell me about Roth?"

The wind rustled above the three people besides the campfire. It was around midmorning, but there was enough chill in the air to make two of the figures huddle next to each other as they talked. The sunshine radiated them with its cool warmth, but the bite of the wind and the horrors of the night lingered on.

Lara thought for a moment how deep the question could be? _'Who really was Roth? How could she really describe to Alex all the things Roth had been or was to her for years.'_ Lara knew that she would have been lost so long ago if the rugged South Yorkshire man had not there for her after her father's death. _'But how to convey his importance to her?'_

' _Duh! Just start talking.'_ Her psyche responded. _'But the more you hesitate the weirder it will get.'_

' _But how?'_ Lara argued back in her thoughts. _'He is more of a father figure to me then my actual father! That is not something you just dump on someone like Alex.'_

' _Why not?'_

' _Because…'_ Lara's thoughts floundered as the wind picked up causing her to shiver. She crossed her arms across her chest trying to warm herself. She felt Alex shift next to her as he wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her against him. She could feel herself stiffen…

' _Relax!'_ Her psyche screamed at her, _'He's probably just trying to give you some of his warmth. It's a sweet gesture so RELAX!'_

Lara was not willing to fight her psyche on this one anyway because she didn't really feel a reason not to relax. Alex was just looking out for her anyway, and she shouldn't read to much into this. _'And really…'_ Lara thought to herself. _'He is quite comfortable to lean against.'_

' _He might be more comfortable for other things too…'_

Her faced flushed at the thoughts her mind was playing around with. _'Stop it!'_ She growled to herself. _'I don't need you to mess this up for me.'_

' _First, I am you… don't forget that or you really will be crazy. Second, you already have messed this up badly. Lastly, I am the only reason we have gotten where we have; so, stop growling at me.'_

Lara sighed loudly in response, _'Well… you make the moments more…'_

"Lara, if you would rather not talk about it I get it." Alex's hesitate voice broke quietly. "It's fine, we can just rest."

' _Now you've done it!'_ Lara's psyche mocked. _'He asked you a small question and instead of answering the dear man you spent the time arguing pointlessly with me. Good Job!'_

She struggled to find something to relieve her own mind that was at war with herself and to get Alex to realize her sigh had not been directed at him and his question. "No, Alex it's not that." She felt him tighten his hold around her as he rested his head on top of hers.

The silence passed for a few moments as Lara made up her mind and realized again that Alex had just been waiting for her to speak. _'I guess I could start in the beginning.'_

"I first met Roth when I was really young." Lara could feel Alex listening as she quietly started unfolding the tale. "He was employed by my father to be his ship captain and bodyguard when my dad would go on exploration missions to find ancient items. Roth has training in the Royal Marines and is really good." Lara looked up at Alex meeting his eyes as she stressed. "He is really good at it. He is the one who taught me all about surviving in the wild and doing CPR First Aid." She couldn't help leaning back on to Alex as she continued. "Roth is amazing. He is a man that was born at the wrong time. He would have been so much happier back in the sixteen hundreds sailing the seas as a pirate captain." Lara could feel Alex chuckling at her words, but she really could have seen the fierce person Roth was as a vicious captain sailing the seas.

"You laugh Alex, but really in some ways he is that person." Lara nestled into Alex to escape the wind as his hand rubbed some warmth into her arm. The feeling was electric and ignited a fire deep inside of her, but it was very, very comforting. "He met Grim and the two became partners in crime sometimes. They would sail the oceans on the Endurance looking for adventure and loot." Lara grinned at the phrase, the image of Roth standing at the prow of a ship to earnestly gazing over the ocean and yelling commands to Grim floated in her mind. "There were quite the group." She continued as she could feel the vibrations of Alex's chuckle through his chest. "My father would come up with some random dig site or lost ship and then Roth would formulate a plan, which Grim would help execute." Lara sighed slightly. "Those were the good days…"

As though Alex knew she was starting to dwell on darker thoughts he spoke up. "There is one thing I am not sure about?"

"Hmm?" even though she had closed her eyes, Lara could feel her eyebrow rising.

"Why did Roth name his ship the Endurance?"

"Because he liked it… duh!" Lara giggled shaking off the darkness of the past. "What a silly question."

She could feel Alex shaking his head. "I know _that_ , what I meant was _why_ he liked that name." His arm squeezed her lightly. "Which you fully knew."

"Ohhhh…" Lara drawled, "You should ask with more details then; everything requires reference." _'Boy do I know that…'_ Lara thought quickly. _'Everything about Alex and I are need reference to understand it.'_

Huffing good naturedly, Alex continued his question. "So, are you going to answer or leave me hanging?"

She leaned slightly and looked up into his face. Given their close proximity her heart started to flutter in her chest as she gazed into the sharp blue eyes. She grinned as her psyche screamed at her to just kiss the damn boy, but she was enjoying the place of power she had. "I think I should just leave you hanging… what is this the inquisition? Or are you just trying to know all my secrets?" _'Ball is in your court now Alex, what are you going to do?'_

Sapphire eyes observed her for a few moments, "Which would you like it to be?"

' _Dammit! He sent that back quickly. Now what do I do?'_ Lara thought still looking at his face.

' _Oh just go for it! What could you lose?'_ Her psyche responded.

' _Quite a lot actually. If he is dating Aliyah, then I could lose a friendship. And I don't want to lose this.'_

' _Little Miss Israeli Perfection is not HERE! So… go for it!'_ The response came back instantly.

' _No, but it's a really good thing that you aren't in control of my actions.'_ Lara thought quietly.

The mocking reply came again for a second time in such a short period. _'I am you. You want to kiss him just as much as me… I am just the more honest portion of your mind.'_

' _Be that as it may,'_ Lara responded. _'I am not going to do something I will regret.'_

The sound of Alex clearing his throat as he in a singsong voice caught her attention. "Houston to Lara… Houston to Lara… do you copy, over?"

Lara refocused on Alex's eyes as she took in the slight concern that was hiding there beneath the warmth and sharpness of his mind. "Of course, I am here. I am leaning against you in case you have forgotten."

"So…?"

"So, what?"

Alex sighed dramatically, "Why did Roth specifically chose the name for his ship to be the Endurance."

"Oh," Lara quietly replied, she wanted them to talk about other _things_ , but Roth was a much safer topic of conversation for her poor heart. "Roth's personal hero was the Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, so that is why he named his ship the Endurance."

"Ernest Shackleton…" There was a long pause as Lara waited for Alex to figure out what he wanted to ask. "The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Who was he?"

Lara stared back to Roth who still was asleep as she replied. "He was a man who desperately wanted to reach the center of Antarctica, however, fate was not kind to him. He tried many times before eventually making it there. It cost a lot of time and effort, but the greatest loss to him was his ship sank after getting so close to his destination. He still got most of his men out. He died of a heart attack shortly after making the discovery of his lifetime."

"Hmm… quite the grim hero."

Turning her head again to look at Alex, Lara couldn't help wondering just how fitting it seemed that both Endurance's would go down making gigantic discoveries. Hopefully though, the captains would not share a similar fate. "Well, Roth is kinda grim too. At least to those who don't know him closely."

Lara laid her head back down on Alex's chest as they continued sitting in the silence. The mostly even breathing causing her to relax and just rest. Were there things that they should be doing? Of course, but for the moment with how badly they both were feeling they thought that they could use the moment to enjoy the fellowship of similar suffering.

However, Alex had many more questions about Roth and the two of them talked for what felt like a few moments but, was over an hour.

Their conversation was broken though when Alex's breathing started to get more laborious. While the rest was important Lara knew that she needed to go find some herbs to help him and this time despite his protests that he was 'fine' she got up and headed into the woods.

She kept contemplating the possible problems that Alex could be having and settled that since he was vomiting blood, he most likely had some internal bleeding along his digestive system. And because it was vomiting and not coming out the other end, she knew it most be in the esophagus or the stomach. Any lower and his ability to throw up would not have had blood in it but it would have been in his stool. Even if it was lower in his digestive system, ingesting some herbs or making an herbal tea would work wonders. But, if it was actually inside his lungs… there really wasn't anything she could do. The only way to save him would be getting him to a hospital at once. If blood pools in the lungs there is just not much you can do. Due to her training under the strict and complete tutorage of Roth, Lara knew she needed any of the following herbs: Wild Geranium root, Achillea or Yarrow, Capsella Bursapastoris or known as Shepherd's Purse, and lastly Aloe Vera Juice. Any of these natural remedies while not completely fixing the issues would certainly help though. Lara knew though that she would not be able to find Shepherd's Purse as it was only really native in the Eastern Canada area. She also knew that Wild Geranium was out of the question since it grew mostly in the Northwest United States. Aloe Vera Juice would be to hard and very unlikely to find that as well. So in all, Alex really had only one hope… Achillea, Yarrow.

It was not the best option; however, any help would be needed and Lara knew that Yarrow could very well be thriving on an island like Yamatai. The climate was perfect for the plant and Lara started to earnestly search the cliff slopes for the small white flowers. Combing the hills and valleys while not straying to far away from where Alex and Roth were located, Lara finally found what she was looking for. Along a hillside, tucked in where it would get just enough sunlight was a bunch of the little white flowers. Thankfully they were in bloom as Lara worked quickly gathering as many as she could hold in her hands. She hurried back to the campfire to a very incredulous Alex and a sleeping Roth.

Despite Alex's disbelief in the supposed 'healing nature' of the plant. Lara just shushed him and started to rig a rack with Alex's help over the campfire so that she could as quickly as possible dry the small flowers.

They talked for a while but most of the conversation was about Lara's skills working with Roth when they would go hiking in the wilderness. It was at most a hour before Lara was sure that the intense heat from the fire had dried the Yarrow enough for her purposes. She took a rock and started grinding the flowers into a powder and then made Alex drink it with water.

Honestly, Alex's face while he was drinking the concoction was more therapeutic then all the possible medication Lara could have been given. Sure, she knew it must taste awful, but Alex demonstrated his great trust in her as he drank it all. He might have had to resist gaging it all back up. The slight grin he tried to muster at her to make her feel better about the situation as he chuckled about how it was worse tasting then the concoctions that his mother would make him drink.

"And what were those healthy elixirs your mother would make you drink?" Lara asked as her curiosity got hold of her. _'In all reality, I don't know all that much about Alex. His past, his family, growing up in the States.'_

He continued chuckling shaking his head from the memories. "My mother… bless her! She would spike our water when we were young with Iodine." He gazed into the fire as he got lost in the memories as Lara sat down next to him and resumed her position of leaning against him. "Kaz and I just thought the water tasted funning. It took us over three months to figure out what she was doing."

Lara started laugh as she looked at the indignant face Alex was pulling as he remembered. "Was that it?"

"Oh no… there was so much more." Alex grinned down at her. "The Iodine was just the start. She made us drink terribly healthy things."

"Such as?"

"Apple cider vinegar, Kombucha, kale-spinach-lettuce-carrot smoothies. Let me tell you, they were really bad… healthy but tasted terrible." Alex screwed his face as though he could taste it. "Mom would say that they would make us strong, healthy etcetera. Though her favorite phrase was when we complained was," Alex just started laughing as he continued. "'It will put hair on your chest' I remember my sister and my reaction of that we didn't want hair on our chests and my mom was so quick with, 'then it will take it off.'" He was shaking with laughter. Lara really didn't know what to think, but she smiled it was something a more innocent childhood she could really picture. But Alex continued with. "I can't believe how long that worked… children will believe almost anything their parents tell them."

Lara could feel herself tense up as she thought off the naivety of children. She had been so naïve to what was going on in her family dynamic. Painful memories started to come to the surface again and Lara knew she didn't want to dump years of her parentless childhood on Alex. _'Not yet anyway…'_

"What was one of your favorite memories growing up?" She asked trying to distract herself from her thoughts.

Alex leaned his head to the side resting it on hers as he thought humming to himself. "Any memories with my father are good ones to me… he taught me almost everything in life and he supported my obsession with technology; very much to my mother's horror and dismay. He fostered in me a desire to solve puzzles, which is how I started hacking at age nine."

Lara looked at him giving an incredulous look. Alex smiled and nodded. "My father worked for a large contracting company in the Mid-West and my first assignment was to hack his email account." He waved his hand in front of them as he continued talking, demonstrating the wonder of it all to the nine year old Alex. "I was thrilled with the challenge, he gave me the web address and his username and my laptop. 'Get to it.' That was all I had to work with…"

"How long did it take you?"

"Three days."

Shock oozed out of Lara's tone as she couldn't believe it. "It only took you three days?! And your mother was okay with this?"

"Oh no she wasn't. She and my dad had quite the debate about it… at least until he kissed her. I remember watching them." Alex's tone saddened quietly. "They were so happy together. So in love, not to say that they didn't have their issues but… they never ended the day angry with each other." His tone shifted again to almost a chuckle. "It drove my sister Kaz crazy! She would try so hard to disturb the peace in our home just to see if it was possible."

"Was it?"

"No!" Alex laughed. "Mom and Dad were just too much in love to really fight about anything longer then maybe fifteen minutes. It normally ended with one of them stating 'I'm being silly about this aren't I?' and it would be over."

Lara smiled at the happiness in Alex's words, they really sounded like amazing people. Alex seemed to be very close to his father. "So, what is your favorite thing about your dad?"

"Wow… that's hard." He seemed to be thinking of just want he wanted to say as he pondered the question. "He was always encouraging us kids to try what we enjoyed as long as it would be able to provide for us financially. He was great at teaching us the joy of challenge. But as much as it annoyed me growing up; I think I enjoyed his protectiveness of my mom. He would not anyone disrespect her; including Kaz and me. I remember when I was ten snapping an insult at my mom when dad was home." Alex let out a low whistle.

"What happened?"

"Dad quietly took me into another room and explained something basic to me."

"Which was?" Lara felt like Alex was taking way to long to explain this to her.

"That while I could call her mom, she was his wife… and he would not allow the VP of his company to talk to mom the way I did. If he wouldn't allow someone that important do it than he would never allow me to say such things to her. I had never been more scared in my life than that moment. My father was not loud, but the force in his words I will never forget. It made me realize when it came to respecting my mom, my father had no patience for acting out. He took care of my mom. I'll always admire him for that."

Though she had been paying attention to his words, Lara suddenly got his choice of them… past tense only. _'His father's dead too?'_ However, Lara didn't really know how to bring that up. You don't just say 'Is your dad dead?' But for the life of her she could not figure out how to bring up the sensitive subject.

While Lara wondered quietly to herself about how to bring up the subject of potentially deceased parents when Alex shifted next to her as he gave a slight groan. Parents, dead or otherwise were forgotten as Lara looked over at Alex worried. "How are you feeling?"

The smirk Alex gave her caused her to relax. "What? You mean that awful, vile, _evil_ beverage you forced down my throat doesn't have instantaneous healing results!? How could you have betrayed me so?"

Rolling her eyes Lara laughed as Alex gave her shoulder a squeeze. There were of course no instantaneous results like seen in movies where the hero is instantly better. It was more of the calm knowledge that if the bleeding was along his digestive tract, it would help him to recover.

"Well, as your doctor…" She began

"You're doing a terrible job!" Alex interrupted still smirking.

"Oi! Don't get miffed on me!" She grinned at him trying to look disgruntled.

The banter was over instantly as Alex pulled away confused. Missing her headrest Lara stuck out her lip in a pout mocking him. "What?"

She saw him take in a deep breath before looking back at her. His sapphire eyes danced around as he stated in an absolutely flat voice. "What the hell does 'miffed' mean?"

She placed her hand to her forehead and heaved a sigh. "I forgot. You are an uncultured savage from our American Colonies. Lacking all understanding of the beautiful English language."

"Har har har" Alex stated sarcastically. "O yes, so much more cultured than us poor Americans. So, will you answer the damn dictionary question or not?"

Lara leaned toward him grinning. "How are you going to make me?"

"Make you?" Alex looked puzzled before his blue eyes started to get darker. "I can think of a few ways."

"Such as?" She could feel her heart starting to race. _'Yes! Yes! Yes!'_ Her psyche was cheering in the background.

"I just ask Grim when we meet up." Alex leaned back and got to his feet.

"What?" Lara couldn't believe her ears as her heart did a painful flop and her psyche groaned in agony. Part of her felt like Alex must have heard it somehow in her tone, because he was grinning ridiculously.

"Yeah," He nodded vigorously, "I have good rapport with Grim and I am sure he would be willing to tell me what 'miffed' means."

Lara could feel her jaw had gone slack from the shock. "But aren't you curious?"

"Of course! Everything you say makes me curious." Alex stated matter-of-factly, "However, when I was learning to hack at age nine it taught me the most valuable trait." His eyes sparkled as he watched her. "Patience."

Lara groaned in frustration as Alex chuckled. He had very expertly put the ball her court and unless she yielded she lost. It was a lose-lose situation for her. Frustrating. Yet, it just made her like him even more than before… it was a problem, if she wasn't careful she would end up just throwing herself at him. _'Like you haven't done that already…'_

Thankfully there was a distraction for both of them as Roth started to stir next to them and opened his eyes.

* * *

 _ **Hopefully, I can get you all another chapter sometime soon. R &R!**_

 _ **Sincerely,**_

 _ **ShadowLord7**_


	10. Chapter 7: Conversations

**Hey guys!**

 **Sorry it has been so long… I have some strange things going on and may be off the page for a month. However, I will have the next 3 chapters ready and my friend ComplianceLord, if he is willing will post them for me. You might actually get the chapters more regularly while I'm gone… ;)**

 **Review Replies**

 **Kit: Thanks! I will keep trying. No worries… I am not focusing that far in the future yet. Thanks for the idea, it could be really interesting where Alex fits in Lara's life and even if she would want to follow in her father's path given all that he lost… that is of course as you said… IF Alex lives. ;)**

 **DarthTroubleMaker: Don't die… please don't die. Glad you liked the chapter! A little bit of fluff is necessary, I did say this was a romance not a tragedy, right? I might have to change it before I am finished… ;) I really do like writing Lara psyche and really, she should probably just let go… put Lara is stubborn isn't she.**

… **I don't own Tomb Raider… :P**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7: Conversations**_

The sun was shining around them as Lara and Alex watched Roth's eyes flutter open. He groaned as he lifted himself up as the two younger adults hurried over to assist him. The man grimly looked over at them and then his leg. He inspected the work and then grinned over at Lara; he nodded in satisfaction over her work.

"Roth!" Lara murmured concerned moving to sit next to him. The older man just gave her a slight grim smile as he slightly inclined his head toward her. Alex moved back to the other side of the fire and watched with seeming disinterest looking further down into the valley trying to not eavesdrop. Too much anyway, on Lara and Roth, but was finding it rather hard to keep his eyes from Lara for more than five minutes.

The grizzled man kept looking at the bandage around his leg as he leaned his head toward Lara. Eventually stating in his gruff raspy Yorkshire brogue. "It's not bad… not bad at all." He nodded toward the first aid work she had done. Lara heaved a quiet sigh of relief as the pride from doing a job well done earns; especially when noticed by her instructor and congratulated for it.

"Now where does a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?" The grim man smiled at her and Alex could notice that there was a love hidden under the deep armor the man had around him. It was like a softness in his hardened face, a face that had seen some challenging things.

The young girl laughed gently in response shaking her head causing her ponytail to swish back and forth. Her bangs fell over her eyes and Alex had to look away. _'She just doesn't get how beautiful she is.'_ He thought to himself. _'Even down to how she shakes her head to adjust her hair. Given the horrors she has seen; how can she be so beautiful and angelic?'_ Alex gaze returned to the brunette who was grinning slightly at the old man. _'I wonder if this is how Dad felt about Mom? If so, I could see why he always tried his best to protect her. I would do the same, however…'_ Alex felt the familiar pain in his chest, it had been growing there steadily ever since he met the English girl in Nine Bells that fateful 'Study Session' with Sam. He had tried making some advances, but she just brushed them off. Then, when it finally felt like they were starting a friendship she had gotten very distant. The hurt had only intensified when they set sail together on the Endurance and Alex had to resign himself painfully to the realization that he was in the friendzone and he never would get out of it.

He could still remember with embarrassment and some heart agony when he had stopped by the night of the Endurance's shipwreck; Lara's words had burned themselves into his very essence. _'There is absolutely_ _ **nothing**_ _going on between me and Alex.'_ Since then, he had made several advances some of which she responded to and others she didn't. He had been very confused and frustrated by Lara's actions. Sometimes, he felt like she was actually _flirting_ with him. But this he knew was incorrect; there was no way under the sun Lara Croft would be interested in him. He wasn't brave or smart, or really anything that would catch the attention let alone affection of someone like Lara. It really didn't matter in the end though, Alex had made his decision; Lara would survive the island, but he wouldn't. He knew the minute that he had vomited up blood that he was a goner. With all the injuries he had sustained he knew…

There was no chance for _him_.

Yet… there was a chance for _her_. Something that his father had instilled in him was a deep desire for making the lives better of others. Sure, there were things that he had done that had been at the expense of others; he was a hacker after all. If some people ever figured out who was behind some of the hacks he had done… there would be trouble.

His father was similar to him. A contractor who worked for a massive corporation and met with politically powerful people; there were things his father had done that he was not proud of. However, he had been determined to do his best and supported his mother and children. He gave his life sacrificially everyday because he loved his family. He gave up his freedom, health, time, and eventually his life. Alex felt his watch as he gazed across the fire at the other two. The watch was a gift from himself and Kaz to their father. They had spent a lot of money on engraving it with the special message, 'World's Best Dad!'. It had cost them so much and their father had loved it. Alex could remember his dad beaming at the two of them and attaching it on his wrist. He wore that watch for every business meetings no matter how important the people were. Was it the most impressive watch? No. But their father had loved it because it was from them.

Alex returned his attention to the conversation happening on the other side of the fire. There was something special about the relationship he was observing. Lara had told him not as much as he was hoping, Roth really was more of a father figure and it seemed that Alex had been correct when he had first met Roth and asked Lara if Roth was her father. In reality, he was. A father is not just a physical person whose genes you carry in your genetic code; it is the person who raised you. The beautiful sound of Lara's voice drew his attention.

"Late shift at the Nine Bells." She grinned over at Roth and then looked at Alex, her eyes sparkling which caused him to take a quick breath. "A wolf's got nothing on a broken bottle."

Roth reached out and put his hand on her bare shoulder. "Hey, you got it. Nice work."

There was a pause as all three of them just looked around quietly. Lara broken the peace as she mentioned the next step forward. "So, I assume the plan is to take that up to the radio tower?" She nodded toward the tall tower located further up the mountain. Her voice lacked any type of excitement or desire. _'Not that I blame her,'_ Alex thought to himself. _'I don't really like the idea of heading up there either.'_

The fatalistic voice of reason that took so many different forms can through Roth this time. "That should give us the best shot of broadcasting a strong signal in every direction."

The two of them stared at the fire while Alex continued to observe. Roth was correct and they all knew it.

The grey headed man looked back at Lara and continued. "Look Lara. We need to send out that S.O.S. and I am not climbing anytime soon." Lara's eyes screwed shut as a pained expression came over her face.

She looked sideways at Roth. "Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say that."

"You can do it, Lara." The man smiled at her. "After all, you're a Croft."

His curiosity piqued, Alex leaned in as he saw Lara heave a sigh. There was a disappointment in her expression and something akin to grief. Alex wasn't sure, but it was not a line that Lara appreciated apparently.

"I don't think I'm that kind of Croft." Lara stated softly, something in her tone made Alex feel like she didn't want to _be_ that 'kind of Croft'… whatever that phrase meant.

If Roth detected the same feeling in Lara, he sure didn't show it. "Sure you are." Lara looked past Alex into the scenery. Roth picked up a climbing ice axe and handed it to her. "You just don't know it yet."

Lara sighed and looked away from Roth. She looked like she was wrestling with her mind. Her eyes connected with Alex over the fire. Alex gave the most encouraging smile he could to the questions that were dancing in her eyes. She seemed to come to a decision looking at him before she grabbed the axe and nodded to Roth.

"Let's hope I am a fast learner then."

"Just be careful, Lara." Roth caught her hand briefly and gave it a squeeze.

As Lara started to get up Alex realized that he was not sure what he was supposed to do. Go with Lara or stay with Roth. He quickly got to his feet. "How can I help? Should I go with you or stay with Roth?"

Roth's eyebrows rose in surprise before his eyes traveled over to Lara and he seemed to witness the emotions flying across Lara's face. Alex just waited, if Lara wanted him with her, he would try to fight against his abject terror of heights. She was worth it after all, and how could he help her survive if he wasn't with her.

Lara seemed to be wrestling against her own mind about the options and turned to Roth hoping he would make the decision for her. However, the Yorkshire man was not helping her out here. He did seem to understand that there was a need to talk about this before Lara started climbing.

Roth turned and looked at Alex. He drawled in his British brogue, "Alex, Lara's done a great job bandaging up my leg. But I won't be walking for a while without a crutch. Would you be willing to go and make one for me?"

There was more going on here and Alex was not an idiot. Roth was trying to get rid of him so that he could talk with Lara. That was fine with him. However, Alex wish they would just be honest. "Sure, Roth. I get on that right away."

Alex walked over and with his eyes measured how long the crutch would need to be for Roth and his approximate weight. He met Lara's warm brown eyes as she smiled at him. He would never really understand what was going on in her mind. She seemed to care about him, but his comment about mixed signals from her had been legit. He nodded to her and headed off into the forest, he didn't look back once.

* * *

Lara knew there was something Roth wanted to discuss with her as she watched Alex walking away into the woods. Roth had come up with the most bullshit reason possible to get rid of the young man and Lara really didn't appreciate it. To say she _cared_ about Alex was a joke, it was a lot more than that; she wanted the handsome man who had already saved her more than once so far to feel just how valuable he was to her.

She wanted him to come with her to the radio tower, but she had been torn about it. She knew Alex was scared about heights, when they were climbing up the rope ladder she had been able to tell that he was fighting his terror the entire way. Alex had not let that stop himself from helping her when she was falling, comforting her, guiding her, and ultimately finding He had given everything possible to help her and not asked for anything in return. Not to mention pulling her back from the darkest place that she had ever gone into. Lara didn't think she was a dramatic person, but she would say in that moment with Alex, witnessed by Dutch, he had saved her soul. But how to convey that to Roth who didn't know how wonderful Alex had been to her; taking torture to defend the group while Whitman potentially betray them.

Roth motioned for Lara to sit down again. He had a perplexed look on his face, as she sat down where Alex had been sitting mere moments before. In some ways she did it intentionally because even if Alex wasn't there it had been where he was before. Not to mention, it allowed her to talk with Roth across from the fire, which was better for conversation.

Lara settled down and looked expectantly at Roth. Time seemed to drag between the two, both wanted to talk, but neither understand how to start.

Finally, Roth just started to chuckle roughly shaking his head. "Damn! We have gotten in quite the mess, haven't we?"

Lara grinned back and nodded. It was true, they had been on so many different challenges and adventures together. Ever since she had been just a little girl following her father on his journeys, Roth would take care of her and make sure she would survive all the craziness that could have happened to the six-year-old girl. "You've always taken care of me through it all. Even Dad's…" Lara voice trailed off as she gazed into the fire.

"And I always will, Lara." The two looked at each other over the campfire. The silence lingered between them comfortably until Roth cleared his throat.

"Part of what I promised your mother," Roth looked away pain dancing in his eyes. "was that I would watch over you because she knew your father…" He shrugged. "So, I need to ask Lara, what is going on between you and Alex?"

Unsure as to why exactly, but Lara felt panic stir up in her chest at Roth's question. He had never really cared to much about her love life. Lara could remember when she had turned thirteen, Roth had sat her down and given her the Birds and the Bees talk. She had been so embarrassed, and yet Roth had been so much more embarrassed. The grizzled man had a gruffly gotten through the conversation, but it was still not a memory he like much. He had claimed that he never wanted to do that ever again; it was one of the reasons why the man claimed he never wanted to have kids or marriage. Bachelor for life because if he died he would never have to worry about leaving someone behind. It still was weird that Roth would suddenly care now, on Yamatai of all places. But it seemed like this was the time for her and Roth to talk about what really was going on between her and Alex.

Lara though wondered what really was going on between her and Alex. There was curiosity in her own mind about what was the relationship between them. Her never silent psyche told her one thing while another was worried that she shouldn't impose on Alex. Not to mention the strange situation they were in, why should they even be worrying about this right now?

"There is nothing but friendship between me and Alex, Roth." Lara could feel her heart shrivel a little as she spoke the fact. Was it the truth? No, she desperately wanted there to be _something_ other than friendship, but there wasn't and that was a fact.

"Lara," Roth slowly spoke. "if there is, I'm here for you. I promised your mother to take care of you."

She shrugged looking at the fire. Eventually she decided to just let go. "I… I wouldn't mind if there was something more."

"Between you and Alex?"

"Yes, I guess." Lara looked up at Roth and smiled briefly. "However, while there is all the chaos around us and trying to survive. I just feel like this is not the time." She could feel her shoulders slump down as the depressing thoughts circled her mind. "Or if he even thinks along the same lines."

"I agree." Roth nodded. "We are trying to survive and if this is going to distract you…"

Confusion went through Lara's mind as she sat there trying to understand what Roth was getting at. _'Surely, he is not stating leaving Alex behind if something happens.'_

"Roth, what are you saying?"

The man sighed heavily looking out over the scenery around them. "What I mean is, Lara, if you must choose between you and anyone." His eyes were hard as they locked with hers. " _Anyone_ , Lara. You choose you and leave the other behind."

Horror sank into Lara, abject horror, she couldn't believe what Roth was telling her. There was absolutely no way she could leave Alex, Roth, Sam or Jonah… Hell!... or really anyone to a certain death or worse without trying to help. Her voice was laced with astonishment. "You're telling me to sacrifice people?"

The man chuckled roughly. "No, I am saying; save yourself and don't worry about others."

The demons circled around her whispering their dark thoughts and ideas as Lara wrestled with the implications that Roth was imposing on her. _'And yet…'_ Her psyche responded to the darkness all around her. _'If you had not gone back for Alex, you would have lost me and entered that evil necessity you embraced so easily…'_ Lara was struggling otherwise she would have gapped in wonder that her psyche had come to her defense and hadn't attacked her and defended Alex as something of personal, intrinsic value to her.

Roth drew her back though as he continued talking. "As to if Alex cares… he clearly does. Is it more than friends? I don't know. He does care though, don't question that." Lara could feel the warmth surrounding her like when Alex hugged her. Roth shattered it again though. "However, don't let that slow you down from surviving."

Lara's mind reminded to her as she closed her eyes, the conversation she had with Alex. His easy grin and kindness.

" _Easy, you are a survivor. You have the willpower and fortitude to conquer this island and see the other side of this adventure. But,"_

" _But?"_

" _I fear you will lose what makes you… amazing. I fear surviving could cause you to be the girl I met in the village with Dutch."_

She opened her eyes; the blue eyed young man had literally stated the opposite idea from Roth's to Lara. She could be a survivor, but she didn't want to do it at the cost of those she thought was dear.

She realized she wouldn't win this argument with Roth. But Roth could answer a question that was floating in her mind. _'What would my parents had thought of Alex? Would they have approved of him?_

The was no reason not to ask the question. Roth was really the only one, besides Grim, who knew her both of her parents. Though, Roth was much closer to them then Grim ever was. "Roth, if there was more between Alex and myself…"

The two pairs of eyes met each other across the fire. Before the gruff yet soft voice responded. "You want to know what your parents would have thought of him?"

She nodded. "I think Dad would have liked him."

The roaring laughter which came out of Roth was completely unexpected and it continued as Lara's incredulity increased. The man swept away the tears running from his eyes.

"What?"

"Richard would have hated Alex!" Roth just couldn't seem to stop laughing until he saw the disappointment in Lara's face. He quickly continued, "Lara, that is almost a badge of honor… The true answer you want is 'what would Amelia think of him?'"

Lara leaned forward. Anything that had to do with her mother or what she liked or loved, mattered so much to her. She could never hear enough about her mother. Most people would say that Amelia Croft was like unto an angel, who fell in love with the bizarre humanity of Richard. People who were jealous of them or just didn't like them would always state how amazing her mother was and how little Richard deserved her.

Quietly she asked her question again. "So, what would she think of Alex?"

Silence hang painfully between them, making Lara uncomfortable. Finally, Roth replied slowly almost hesitantly. "Lara, I don't want you to misunderstand me with this. Your survival is paramount, and no one should get in the way of it." Lara eyebrows lowered in frustration, _'It doesn't seem right that Roth won't answer a damn question straight anymore.'_

Before Lara could act and state that Roth should just answer the question; the subject of their conversation walked back towards them. She watched as the young man flashed her a tight smile and she knew… _'Alex must know exactly why Roth made him leave… this is SO embarrassing.'_ She looked away from the two men that were now talking seamlessly about the crutch that Alex had made for Roth. It was extremely well made even though the parts weren't up to the standards in England; they all knew that it would be perfect for Roth. Until they got off the island or Roth felt better. _'Whichever comes first I guess.'_

Gazing back at them, Lara felt like she could see some sort of… measuring contest going on between the two men. Yet, contest was to strong of a word. It was more of Roth measuring and Alex was just letting him analyze and waiting quietly.

Suspense kept growing until Roth looked over at Lara and asked, "Lara, could you give Alex and I a minute to talk?

Frustration was rising in her, but she got up and started moving away from the fire. Briefly her eyes met Alex and she could see the concern in the flash of his eyes before he sat down. Lara didn't know what she should do until she realized that getting more Yarrow for Alex's internal bleeding would be the perfect use of her time. As she walked away she could feel a palpable tension behind her from two pairs of eyes observing each other over the dying campfire.

* * *

The two men stared at each other as Lara's form disappeared into the woods. The silence continued oppressively until Alex refused to let it continue. He was not sure exactly why they were sitting like this. He thought that his relationship with Roth was better than this, however, it must not have for them to be sitting here like complete strangers. _'Almost more like adversaries then friends. I wonder what Lara told him…'_

"Roth?" The older man continued to stare at him, like he was trying unsuccessfully to pierce to Alex's soul. It was unnerving. "Roth, we don't have a lot of time to waste." Alex tried again. "We need to get that S.O.S. signal out."

Seemingly not to even hear what Alex had said, Roth asked. "What are your intentions with my little girl, Alex?"

"Intentions?" Alex was through into utter confusion as he tried to wrap his mind about what Roth was even talking about.

The grizzled marine's face changed from calm to fierce causing Alex to lean back. "Don't jerk me around boy! What are your intentions with Lara?"

Alex could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise with his anger. "I'm not jerking you around! But _**you**_ are being vague, and _**I**_ am not sure why. Tell me want you want answered Roth or stop wasting my time!"

Fire danced in the man's eyes as they psychologically crossed swords. "Are you trying to get her killed?! You are filling her teenage hormonal mind with thoughts that have nothing to do with surviving this island."

"I'm not filling her mind with anything!" Alex spat out. "As to 'trying to get her killed' I have done more to help her survive than you have!"

"Listen boy…" Roth growled his own anger growing.

"NO! You listen!" Alex interrupted with intense heat. "While you sat on your ass up here, she was trying to survive. She _**begged**_ Roth, she begged for you to come save her." Alex was standing at this pointing with emphasis. "And what did you say? No… that's what you said! Damn you! She was almost raped because you couldn't get off your lazy ass to even _**try**_ to help her. And you have the nerve to question _**me**_ about what my 'intentions' are. Get your head out of your pompous British ass!"

Alex's words echoed around them and the wind swirled around them as though it couldn't believe the great entertainment that was going on between the two males as they locked horns. Roth's face glowed with anger, he started to open his mouth to rebut Alex's tirade he was interrupted again. This time Alex's tone was so firm, though much quieter.

"My intentions… there are only one that matters." The two locked eyes again. "I don't know what she told you Roth, but my only intention is for _her_ to survive this island." Roth could feel something break inside as the sadness he could see in Alex's eyes swirl around. "I have already done what I can and will continue helping as I am able. But I know, I am not getting off this island alive."

Roth closed his eyes to the fatalistic note in Alex's voice. In all honesty, they both were unlikely to survive the island and it was not because they didn't have skills. It was because they were determined that someone else would survive. Both of their anger seemed to slowly dissipate from them as they sat there together. Two men, at first at odds but now joined in a common purpose; help Lara survive.

The silence grew between them but this time it was more comfortable as they had gotten things off their chests. Roth shifted slightly as he looked again at Alex. "You've got any other grievance against me? Or is that all your vitriol?"

Alex's sapphire eyes flashed with fire before he looked away. "Yeah, that you cut the crap."

"And what crap would that be?" Roth raised his eyebrows quizzically.

' _Damn! He really doesn't get it.'_ Alex thought before he responded. "Roth, you need to stop being selfish and help her."

"Selfish?!" Roth's eyes narrowed in anger. "I have given my life to raising that girl. You have no idea all that I have done!"

"I don't, you're right." Alex replied softly. "However, your selfishness has cost a lot of life already." Alex raised his hand stopping Roth. "If you had told us you would join us at the base of the mountain, Whitman wouldn't have betrayed us, Lara wouldn't have almost been raped, I wouldn't be dying and Reyes, Jonah and Grim wouldn't be out looking for Sam… All of these has happened _because_ you wouldn't get off your ass. That is all my grievances against you, Roth. I'm dying, and my future and others' safety is at risk because of you…" He glanced at the woods and sighed seeing Lara was almost back. "Hey Lara! What did you find?"

The stunning brunette walked to them slowly, Alex was rather sure that she had not heard what they had been saying… _'hopefully anyway'_. She looked between the two men as she told them about what she had found.

* * *

Roth just looked at the two of them for a moment as Lara forced Alex to drink another concoction. It would dull the pain, but… there was not much hope for Alex and Roth knew it. His heart was still reeling from the brutal perspective that Alex had granted him. But now, he was sending them off to find the Radio Tower to send their S.O.S. signal. Alex would need to go to do the electrical, and Lara for the climbing as Roth knew from the boat's voyage that Alex had an absolute terror of heights. Roth saw the glow in Lara's eyes and at the moment she looked so much like her mother… and her father… the latter was more concerning.

He watched them walk away bickering about something to do with Alex's left arm and Lara's leg. He smirked… if they did live through this there would be nothing those two couldn't do… ' _Amelia_ _would have loved him.'_

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **There you go guys. This is the last you will hear from me for the rest of Late June-Early July. Thankfully, ComplianceLord will be uploading them regularly once I hand them over. I'll still be able to reply to your reviews but the writing process will be almost impossible where I am going.**

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave me a Review! They mean quite a bit to me and they allow me to discuss ideas with you all.**

 **Until next time!**

 **ShadowLord7**


	11. Chapter 8: A Quiet Dell

_**Hey Readers! So, where the Hell have I been… honestly it would take too long to explain everything to y'all and I doubt any of you probably are reading this story anymore. However, I promised I would not let this die. And I will finish it. Today, its raining outside and I realized I needed to not put this off anymore and finish this chapter. I can only ask y'alls forgiveness for my tardiness aka a year. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the adventure that writing this fanfiction has been. I have really enjoyed the process despite my lack of skill being showcased to you all. I keep missing basic spelling mistakes and I know that must be very frustrating to you all. Please be patient with me even though I don't necessarily deserve it. Now, on to my favorite part…**_

 _ **Review Replies**_

 _ **DarthTroubleMaker: I hope that my writings in this story cause more squealing than breaking of your heart. Thanks for leaving a review, it is so encouraging to me reading them and they make me laugh a lot. Seriously, when I see the notification that I have a review from you and it makes me have a really goofy smile on my face. Hopefully, you won't be broken for long so that we can continue our back and forth.**_

 _ **NoirValor: I knew my perspective of Roth would be… controversial. Let me set some of the record straight. I really like Roth. I think he is an interesting character and I don't want to create needless conflict. Especially since Yamatai has enough of that on its own. When I last played through Tomb Raider 2013, I had a revelation and a question. Why did Roth stay where he was? He wasn't injured, he was the most skilled member of the team in survival and wilderness. Yet, he sits on his ass and makes everyone come to him. Even his campsite is not that good of a location. I couldn't come up with**_ any _ **good reason for him to stay there. Thank you for challenging me in this NoirValor! Because I want to be very clean about this. I believe that everything would have been better had Roth gone down to meet the rest of the group. He even most likely wouldn't have gotten injured by the wolves. In the case of my story and its changes… it makes him even worse. I am not saying he is a bad guy. We all make stupid selfish decisions that has a cost to others. Finally, I wanted to showcase Roth's utter determination to see Lara survive as it will explain somethings later in the story. Please keep challenging me and giving me your thoughts and opinions. And you can absolutely take my opinion and call it bullshit. :D**_

 _ **Guest: Thanks! I am glad you like the story! I will keep going until this story is finished. It could take me a while though. However, I have the damn three point problem. Quality, Length, and Time. You can have two but not three. I am determined to have Quality, and I want the story to be long… this means it takes a LOT of time. This is a work in progress that WILL be completed. Even if it's a YEAR LATER!**_

 _ **rIcArDo MiLoS: Well… apparently, I'll upload a chapter 14 months after your reply… my bad.**_

 _ **If you want me to be SUPER happy please leave me a review! I will take all feedback, constructive, positive, negative… you can even tell me I suck if you want to. This is the internet after all. ;)**_

… _ **I don't own Tomb Raider…**_

* * *

They had been traveling for around a half hour before as they climbed up the mountain toward the tower. Lara had to bite her cheek several times at Alex; his nervous chuckle was endearing as he tried to climb and not slow her down. However, he did slow her down. She knew that she could have gone a lot faster without Alex tagging along. But the emotional support that came from just having Alex with her made up for it in her mind. Lara was curious though because she _had_ heard some of what Alex and Roth had been talking about. Especially, when Alex had straight out admitted to Roth that he was dying. It had really hurt hearing the absolute sorrow and disappointment in Alex's voice. She could tell whatever they had discussed it had upset both of them, which worried her immensely. Because of her thoughts she had avoided trying to talk to Alex about the conversation and she really didn't want to tell him what Roth had said to her.

In many ways looking back on what he had said, it had hurt. _'He's dying.'_ Lara thought to herself as she was climbing with him. They were tethered together and Alex was putting his hands and feet in the holes she created with her climbing axe. _'Even he knows it and is lying to me mostly to make me feel good.'_ She had analyzed him over the time they had climbed. _'Sure, he's not coughing up much more blood, but he is weaker and… suffering.'_ Her heart would clinch when he would slip or stumble. And there was nothing she could do though. That was the worst part of it. The complete inability on her part to save him made the pain so much worse for her. Lara hated feeling like she was inadequate to do anything. She had made him take some pain killers and more yarrow, but there was only so much she could accomplish without a hospital. Yet, she appreciated that he was continuing to proceed and help her. _'And he does, he really makes me what to keep going. To continue, to strive to live. To maintain my progression and achieving success to send out an S.O.S. which everyone's lives depended on us.'_ She was ready of course. Her training under Roth had prepared her for all the natural challenges that faced them. So far they had climbed several cliffs, ridges and buildings.

Around them was the beautiful nature of Yamatai. Lara had called for a break, as she and Alex rested on a ledge. A full waterfall poured and pounded down upon the rocks, but blessed them with a cool mist refreshing her as she lay on her back on the soft moss. It was here next to the waterfall, Lara had noticed some strange white painted symbols. As she mentioned them to Alex, who was gasping for breath next to her, all he managed to wheeze a question of what they meant. Lara shook her head and had laughed quietly and gently patted him on the back; she told him that she had absolutely no idea but was dying to find out.

This was why now, fifteen minutes later, they were huddled next to each other in a dark cave tunnel soaking wet and shivering from the cold. _'This is what explorers do?'_ Lara thought to herself as she held the torch as high as she could. They had scaled a wall and could hear running water all around them. They continued on until they came through to a hollowed out valley. _'Although, valley is stretching the word in the dictionary…'_

What was impressive to her was the fact that there was a giant ruined bomber sitting in the very middle. Circling around the bomber was several worn and knotted trees that if a tree could 'age badly' this trees would have earned that title. Dark green moss grew in long strands from the branches as around the bomber there were twisted containers and boxes around the ruin.

"Damn!" Alex swore quietly, walking up and placing his hands on the cool sheet metal of the plane. "This is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress," He looked over his shoulder at Lara with wonder in his eyes. "How do you think it got here?"

It was spectacular in her opinion and she could hear the awe in his voice too. The dell they were in rose up if not straight they very, very steep. Above them they could see the sun and clouds. But how it fell into this dell was such a troubling situation, however, it was not really something that concerned them. They looked around and Lara could see that there was an alcove tucked up above the plane. It looked like there was _something_ up there. Lara knew, she would not be happy until they had explored everything and the statue she could see made her damn curious.

"I don't know Alex." She stated confidently. "However, I know we might figure out and I want to get up there." She pointed up to the platform with the statue. She looked back at Alex and he was gazing at her, part of her felt almost uncomfortable from his stare. There was something, worrisome. He didn't say anything just turned away his gaze as he looked where she was pointed. He kept silent as his clear blue eyes studied the situation before them and Lara took the opportunity to watch him. She could see he was thinking about something other than getting from where they were standing to the platform. IT wasn't all that challenging but the worry lines caused the mud and blood to crack on his brow.

Lara again felt the desire to ask about what was going on in his head, but she was also scared. From what she heard and see from the conversation at the campfire she knew that Roth and Alex had… a fight? Heated conversation? She wasn't sure but there had been a _ton_ of tension. Which, she was not expecting from the two of them except if Roth had talked about her _feelings_ for Alex. Or the fact that he didn't want them even _thinking_ about what _could_ be. He wanted her to survive and really it was sweet that Roth cared that much about her safety and well being. However, that couldn't have been what they talked about because Alex was also determined, even though she didn't want him sacrificing himself for her, to help her survive no matter what. So, the idea that they had argued about something she was not allowed to know made her slightly terrified… and angry. She knew Roth, and she was getting to know Alex. Those two butting heads was not great, and yet they had put it aside when Roth had told them what they needed to do. They had been cordial to each other and even friendly, but Roth was really good at masking his emotions especially from her. The anger inside her was more about people deciding things for her _without_ including her in that same discussion. However, she could understand in some ways why they…

"We could try to make a ramp to get up there?" Alex's voice interrupted her thoughts and she tried to shake the troubled ideas dancing in her mind. She was only able to do so much. "Lara?"

"Sorry Alex." Lara murmured still gazing at him. Briefly, their eyes met. Brown and blue meeting, Lara could see the fire smoldering deep within his eyes. Lara could feel the fire and almost taste it. It sent a sliver run through her. She was not sure what it was about, but she really wanted to know his thoughts. Would they scare her? Potentially. Would it be worth it? Absolutely. Why? Because he was worth it.

' _Will you act on your thoughts? Or are you going to be a shagging pathetic loser?'_ Lara's psyche calmly stated into her mind.

' _No, I won't ask him. Nor will I act.'_ Lara responded firmly. _'I know you don't like that, but it is the correct action and why am I even having this conversation with you?'_

The sardonic response came back. _'Because you actually want to do the opposite of what you just told me. You want the fire, you want what Alex could offer you. You don't want to die alone, especially on this island. Also, you don't want to be a pussy.'_

Lara sighed as she looked away toward the more easily attainable goal. "Alex, how do you think we could make a ramp up there?" She pointed in the direction of the statue and its enclosure. She still held the torch and from it's light she could see if they lowered the plane somewhat by destroying its supports they could potentially get up there.

' _Pussy.'_ Her psyche muttered to her and then went silent. Alex just shrugged his shoulders as his gaze as well turned to the problem before them.

"Not sure Lara," He gestured to the far wing tip of the plane. "I could boost you up there but then you would be on your own. I don't think I could get up there myself."

Lara nodded to herself and him following to where his arm was pointing. "Could we try burning away the supports?"

"Maybe." Alex tilted his head looking at the problem before them. "I am not sure if your torch would be hot enough."

"Wouldn't hurt to try would it?" Lara walked forward as Alex watched quietly. To say it was successful was an understatement. The old cloth burst into voracious flames at the most delicate touch. Lara went quickly to each of the supports as she continued to apply the flame. She hurried back to Alex and she got to him the entire plane fell. The main body split from the tail and collided with the earth. The two of them just stared dumbfounded that it had worked.

Lara noticed Alex turn to her and grin. "Well done LC!" He gave her a high five as he walked toward the nose of the plane. "Let me give you a lift up."

She couldn't help grinning as well as she skipped into a jog over to him and accepted his boost. She quickly ran up the fuselage and leapt for the tail. She made it. Adrenaline coursing through her veins she climbed onto the podium and stared at the statue for a moment. It was a shrine. No other word would really explain it exactly right except that. The statue was surrounded by candles and writings in some variation of Japanese next to the statue of what must have been Himiko was Then looked at the large chest, she hurried over and opened it. Lara could feel her jaw dropping as she looked at the beautiful artifacts that was strewn before her. This was what it meant to be an explorer. She had finally accomplished one of her main goals and now she was thrilled. Had she found Yamatai? Yes, she had. Had she found ancient evidence of Himiko? Yes, she had. Had she discovered valuable artifacts? Yes, she had. Now all she needed was to find Himiko's tomb and everything would be perfect. Well, except the being stuck on an island with people trying to kill her and burn her best friend to death.

She reached in to grab some of the smaller, but yet valuable pieces. She returned to the edge and tossed them down to a waiting Alex who caught them and put them in his satchel. Once she had about ten artifacts she returned down the way she had come. Once back on the ground, Lara could feel the joy coursing threw her! She was like her father now. She had discovered something amazing that the World had not found she threw her arms around Alex's neck giving him a hug resting her head on his chest.

The deep chuckle that she heard deep in his chest caused her to smile with joy, as she basked in his warmth. This was what she lived for and in that moment, she knew Roth had been right on the Endurance. Her father would have been proud of her. But, yet that was not the most important thing to her right then. Something about enjoying the moment of this great discovery was better because she was doing it _with_ someone. And the someone she was doing it with mattered quite a bit.

 _'Mattered quite a bit?'_ her ever present psyche mocked. _'I think we are beyond "quite a bit" don't you?'_

 _'Oh hush you! Let me enjoy a moment for once!'_ And surprisingly her psyche relented and allowed it for the moment as she just rested listening to Alex's uneven breathing and heartbeat.

Somehow even in the midst of the small dale the every present and sinister seeming wind came. It's whispers and indignation causing them to break their hug as Alex motioned for them to sit down on a few moss covered rocks.

He motioned to the items in the bag as she leaned against his arm as they sat on the rocks, "What are you planning to do with them?"

"Decorate my dorm room of course!" Lara laughed giddily, not only could she feel the shock in Alex's body language but turned her happy brown eyes to look in his.

"Really?" He tentatively replied.

Gently slapping his chest Lara giggled. "No, I'm going to sell them to the British Museum. Where I am sure they will create a Yamatai Exhibit."

Nodding Alex suddenly looked over at her with a gleam in his eyes. _'what is he thinking now?'_

"What?"

"So," he drawled leaning away from her slightly. "I'm carrying around your soon to be fortune?"

"Yes. You are." Lara was perplexed slightly at his attitude but enjoyed watching him.

Alex shrugged and motioned toward the bag. "Good to know, good to know." He then leaned and whispered in her ear causing a shiver to run down her spine, but yet it felt good. "I'll just have to steal some of these as compensation for lugging them all around a god forsaken island trying to kill us. Unless, you have something else in mind?"

 _'Yes!'_

 _'No!'_

 _'Yes!'_

 _'Ugh shut up!'_

 _'Fine you idiot!'_

Flustered Lara leaned back and noticed the blush on Alex's face as if he also couldn't believe what he had just stated. "Uhh Alex, I…"

Laughing, he interrupted her as he got to his feet. "I'm just messing with you. Payback for the sandwich." He grinned down at her as he held out his hand to help her up. She just stared up at him still not believing what was going on. But still not sure what she wanted to have happening as she took his hand and got up.

They left the mysterious place and returned through the tunnel and came out through the waterfall. Their mission was still unfinished, yet Lara knew that something was eternally altered due to a small dale. They continued on up the mountainside toward the tall rusted metal tower with its flashing red light atop it.

* * *

 _ **And so Dear Readers if y'all are still here, I'll hopefully be posting again soon and making the story a little more streamlined. Thanks!**_

 _ **-Jack aka ShadowLord7**_


	12. Chapter 9: Demons on the Cliffs

**Greetings y'all, I'm back! Much to y'all shock I'm sure. Here is a chapter I was loathed to write and yet in hindsight I am quite happy with it. I am sure some of y'all will very much dislike it though. I feel like its necessary though. Because of it being such a long time since uploading I am sure I have lost some of its fans, (Kit, DarthTroubleMaker, NoirValor and others) I'm sorry for it as they are now the reason I am finishing this story. But I am SO grateful to Aerierith and RedHood001 for writing reviews. Those reviews mean more to me then you probably could ever know and I know that is cliché, but its true.**

 **So, on to Review Replies: :D**

 **Aerierith: I am so happy to hear you like this fiction that I have written! I'll try to keep the quality up but I know that there is a lot I need to work on to make it the best possible for y'all. I tried to write you a PM but you have that feature disabled. I would love to message with you and see what pros and cons you have for me so I can work to be as good as I can be.**

 **RedHood001: You're review made me laugh so hard. I'm glad that I am back too. I feel your review though might want to be tweaked because of this chapter :P As to some of what you have guessed for the future, I can't give spoilers. I do wonder though what PTSD has to do with Martial Arts… ;) Please let me know how I can improve and keep writing reviews as it gives me a way to interact and get the all valuable feedback from y'all!**

 **Obligated Message: I do not own any characters or the Tomb Raider franchise. Only my own OC characters do I possess. [that sounds creepy…]**

 **I hope y'all enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Demons on the Cliffs

The faint mist swirled in complicated patterns from the menacing clouds above them. The chill seemed to reach deep into Lara's bones as she shivered. _'This damn island.'_ She rubbed her hands over her bare slender arms for warmth from the friction. _'Can't stay one way long enough for us to make much progress.'_

All around them the rocky crags and peaks glistening from the rain, as green trees groaned under the stress of the icy forceful gusts of wind. With the life-giving sun having set not long ago, it had also taken the joy and wonder of her monumental discovery and left her wishing for some hot Columbian coffee and a fluffy down coat.

Futilely, after Alex had almost killed them by slipping when they had been climbing on the soaked mossy rocks, they had stopped. On the steep cliffs which were broken by small patios and terraces with ram shack buildings dotting around and facing the stormy vast expanse of the 'Peaceful' Pacific Ocean. Not the only person frustrated, Lara could hear Alex muttering to himself over the utterly futile task of starting a fire. They both knew it was a worthless exercise. Nothing would start in this damnable rain. However, Lara let him distract himself with the impossible task. While the survivor in Lara was frustrated with Alex's physical fallings and almost lethal failures, the girl inside her admired him. Never surrendering and tenaciously focused on helping her. Getting angry with the soaked young man was not necessary, anyway as he was more mad with himself and was much less forgiving over his own shortcomings than she could ever be.

 _'In many ways'_ , Lara mused as she shivered. _'It's very endearing seeing how much he cares about my life.'_

Not much further, there was a large patio where she was sure that they could then find a safer way to the tower blinking with its red light in the oppressive weather. Alex had stated in a toneless voice that they were heading toward the tower as though it was some evil eye, blinking in the barren darkness of the island. Lara had found the comment rather amusing and yet slightly true.

"What?" Lara laughed gaily. "You mean as though you and I are walking to Mordor in the Lord of the Rings? That our radio tower is home of the Dark Lord of Mordor?" She looked over her shoulder at the young man as something flashed across his face as he stopped and gazed up toward the tower blinking resolutely ahead of them.

At his lack of response, Lara turned back to analyzing their next miserable climb, and it would be certainly a miserable one. Lara's trained eyes noted the water slicked rocks with the lush dark green moss, any experienced climber would be nervous and with an inexperienced climber like Alex…

Suddenly she felt two warm arms slide around her waist and Alex's breathe on her hair causing her to shiver pleasantly and hoping he would just consider it was because of the chill of the rain, though the pleasant feeling from where his hands rested told her otherwise. "Is it weird I find your knowledge of the Lord of the Rings endearing? It seems to activate my nerdy mind and create a closeness to you as if we might have something in common, does that sound weird to you?"

Trying to look coy and failing miserably, Lara glanced over her shoulder at Alex, her voice a little louder than a whisper and hard to hear for the pounding throb in her ears. "Everyone knows The Lord of the Rings, especially when they are form England. And no, it does not sound that weird to me and we have more in common than you think."

She could feel more than hear Alex's hum of agreement as she basked in his warmth as her body greedily stole as much as imaginably possible. As all around them, the grey mist turned to a steady rain. Leaning back unto Alex's chest she rested her head on his shoulder turning her face so the rain could somehow wash away the pain and cool off her heated mind and thoughts. The arms around her tightened briefly before sliding away and Lara had to resist the powerful urge to pull them back and hold them there where they had rested so perfectly on her. Now, as Lara could feel Alex pulling away she straightened to hold her own weight again despite her thigh throbbing in agony. It had withstood the climbing fairly well, considering how recent the wound was. Yet, she was confident that tomorrow it would be screaming at her like a bitch for how inconsiderate she had been toward it.

There was some small conciliation as Alex's warm hands were rubbing her arms warming the cold muscle and flesh, which felt so incredible to her she almost missed his words.

"So if we are in Mordor who are we?" His voice was low, rough and teasing. "Are you Frodo Baggins with me as your loyal servant Samwise Gamgee?"

Laughing at the image joyfully bouncy around in her mind Lara turned and adopted a thinking posture as she 'studied' the man in front of her. What she saw suddenly caused her to stop her happy response in her throat and was lodged there stuck. A bloody, grime speckled grim face with its vivid blue eyes laughing at her, with brown red stubble all along his strong jawline which barely hid some of the bruises and lined with several small red cuts marring his face. It was as though his face was a montage of blood and dirt with vertical streaks where the rain had somehow washed away some of the awful camouflage of the survivor before her. Heart pounding painfully inside her chest, Lara could see the steel like quantity had stayed in his eyes and hidden somewhere deep in the background of the sapphire sea of his soul. _'He is never going to be the same,'_ The depressing voice dryly commented in her mind, _'he has seen too much to go back to the nerdy young man we knew back at Nine Bells.'_

 _'However,'_ the reply come mockingly in response, _'neither are we the same Croft. You've taken the sacred gift from people… life.'_

Shuddering from the darkness of her thoughts and the dark voices she recognized, she saw the frank concern surfacing in the twin sapphire pools before her.

 _'That sympathy is because he doesn't know… we can kiss that care and affection gone once he knows just who you are Lara Croft.'_ Lara could feel the panic rising like bile in her throat aching and burning to try attempting to drown her in acid.

 _'You remember don't you,'_ The voice mocked grating against her tormented soul. _'oh yes, you remember. You remember what we did!'_

 _'Leave her alone!'_ came her familiar nemesis of her more hormonal psyche responding to the dark words spoken with Lara's own voice. _'Go back to your corner and sulk!'_

"Lara, are you okay?" She jerked as Alex's warm had tentatively rested on her shoulder. Terror rising in her heart, Lara slapped fiercely the hand away from her and striking out. She could hear the panic rising in her voice. "Stop! Don't touch me!"

She shrank against the wet mossy wall, as she sobbed. "I don't want to hurt you too, Alex." The tears starting falling swiftly down her face as Lara tried to make herself as small as possible curling in on herself, as she tried vainly to block out the mocking voices chanting in her mind. _'We're going to mutilate him next! We're going to mutilate him next! We're going to mutilate him next!...'_

Lara's scream rang from the cliffs to rebound out into the down pouring rain of the night.

* * *

"So if we are in Mordor who are we? Alex joked pleased with his own wit for once. "Are you Frodo Baggins with me as your loyal servant Samwise Gamgee?" While he had no desire to be the chubby hobbit he could not help chuckling at the horrific image of his and Lara's heads on Frodo and Samwise's bodies heading toward Mount Doom to save the world from evil. He felt Lara turning around and his heart skipped a painful beat as her beautiful face was now turned toward him. Her brown eyes seemed to be mapping his features and her scrutiny made him rather self-conscious. He waited for her to say anything, but he noticed her eyes widen as her pupils dilated largely making her normally beautiful brown eyes go almost black like two large Tahitian pearls. Her face twisted to shock and horror as Alex quickly spun around to see behind him what had caused her transformation.

… Nothing …

Just the steady rain falling form the ominous clouds to the lush green trees and rocky mountainsides in front of him. The wind whistled around him drawing his attention back to the girl in front of him. His stomach twisted inside seeing her blood spattered and grimed face tightened in some kind of pain or horror.

Concerned, Alex grabbed her slender shoulder and unlike before there was no electric feeling of touching her, but the sinking feeling deep in his gut got worse. "Lara, are you okay?"

Was it a dumb question? Of course it was! He knew she was not okay, but the shock of her reaction stunned him and caught him completely off guard. Quicker than he expected she had slapped forcefully his hand off her shoulder and delivered as sharp punch into his stomach. Pain radiated from his ribs as her fist connected. "Stop!" her cry rang out into the darkness around them.

Reeling, as bright flashes of light danced among his blurred vision, Alex sank to his knees rasping for air as he tried to contain the pain and regain the oxygen that had been knocked out of his aching body. Through his pain, he could faintly hear her voice. "Don't touch me." Sobs reached his ears as he sat down painfully to rest on the rocky ground. "I don't want to hurt you too, Alex."

He lay there gasping and could feel fluid in his mouth causing him to spit out a stream of red blood which flowed from his mouth. The sight almost calmed him as the eerie sensation of fatality came to rest on him. He lifted his eyes from the already diluting blood as it mixed with the rain to the girl. Anger was rising in his soul until he focused more on her.

She was huddled as small as she could be against the cliff face, as she was rocking back and forth muttering something to herself before she clutched her head in her hands and let out a piercing scream that vibrated through Alex's core as his chest constricted. Lara's voice became frantic as she repeated over and over again. "No, not him too! Please! Not him too, please!"

Crawling slowly for the pain inside and the fear without, Alex moved toward Lara. Torn between his sense of self-preservation and his desire to comfort Lara, he hesitated in front of the shaking young women who was fighting some war unseen inside her small body.

Gently, and slowly Alex sat down, with great tenderness pulled Lara onto his lap, and held her. Initially she struggled, but his gentle murmuring and persistence won in the end. She lay curled up in his lap shuddering and muttering inconceivably dark words as her tears fell onto his already soaked long-sleeved tee shirt. His own tears falling into her beautiful hair as Alex held on for the rid for as long as he needed to. Alex felt incredibly frustrated with himself, he wish he know what had happened to their happy moment and rested in the thought that anything he could do would be done for her. Sure, he had experienced horrors but they must have paled in comparison to what Lara had experienced for her to be carrying such demons.

* * *

Rain came down now in torrents making it hard to see, and it caused Alex to be grateful in spite of the fact he was out in it. Had they been climbing he certainly would be dead. _'Well, more dead than I already am.'_ His precious bundle had ceased its rough sobbing breaths and was now calmly resting in his arms. While, it had been over an hour, Alex had continued the gentle stroking of her hair. _'She has no idea how distracting her damn ponytail is to me.'_

Even though she had not been able to wash it in days, Alex still relished and enjoyed her hairs feel in his hands. _'I hope I don't have a hair fetish… that would be_ _ **so**_ _awkward.'_ He thought somberly. _'Though it might be more of a Lara fetish.'_ He leaned back his pounding head against the rock behind him. Unfortunately, this one didn't have moss on it. _'Of course, I would pick the most uncomfortable rock to rest against ugh!'_ The grim smile came to his haunting features and then vanished as Lara stirred raising her head from his chest and turned her brown eyes to his. _'Damn she's beautiful!'_ Alex thought as she tucked some dark brown hair behind her ear.

Caught off guard because of his total fascination with a strand of rebellious hair that had escaped her tyrannical ear, Alex had missed her words. He stammered slightly his face turning red. "S-sorry what did you say?"

Lara's blushed even in the pouring rain adding some color to her cold cheek as she turned her face away clearly embarrassed as she stated. "I'm sorry Alex."

He held his breath, while holding her, hundreds of questions had come to his mind and he had thought for a long time how to ask them. But now, he was unsure how to start.

However, Lara kept going, feeling the painful silence. "I must have been more tired than I thought I was." Alex saw her tight smile didn't reach her brown eyes as they avoided his. "Thanks for letting me rest." Shocked, he watched her get up and walk toward the cliff with the pickaxe and rope. Disbelief flooded through him as he painfully got to his feet as his ribs and sore butt protested vehemently.

"Hold on Lara," His voice started since his mind was still reeling. "What the hell happened back there?"

Her slender eyebrows knotted together in puzzlement. "What do you mean 'What happened?' we took a break and I fell asleep." Alex could feel his own eyebrows shoot up into his hairline in shock, but Lara continued. "It was sweet of you, but we shouldn't have stopped this close to the top." She gestured toward the cliff, which Alex estimated to be roughly eighty to a hundred and ten feet high. Lara let out a small humorless laugh and motioned him over to her. "So pick up your jaw off the floor and let's go."

Motionless and still, Alex stared at the grey tank-top back. Her ponytail swishing back and forth like it was alive as his tired mind reeled and tried to piece together what had happened. _'No! I did not imagine it. My ribs hurt like Hell but she doesn't remember….'_ Alex wrestled mentally with himself. _'Or doesn't want me to_ _ **think**_ _that she remembers.'_ Still, given the current situation Alex could not see a reason to force the issue. The worst that could happen is she killed him and to a dying man the threat of death is as meaningless as the person dying is already going to die. His mind roamed to his father as he started attaching the climbing rope to himself. A wiser man, he had never known and some of that man's council rang through his mind as he recalled a happy time.

* * *

The two had been sitting in his father's lush and comfortable office. Spaceships, satellites and planets hung all around as his father was fascinated with everything related to the Last Frontier of Space. Young Alex was only ten years old and was waiting for his father's verdict of his fate. His mama had found out he had just hacked, using the computer his father had given him, into the school database and changed a student's grades from a 'B' to a 'F'. Of course, his mother was furious and had roundly reprimanded both himself and her husband before breaking into tears. His father had just hugged her and told her he would deal with it if she wanted him to. She had just nodded and walked quickly out wiping her tears from her eyes.

His father, resplendent in his crisp white shirt and black suit though his tie was hideous [it had been a gift from his wife], sat across from Alex considering his young son.

Alex had looked frantically at anything and everything but his father and waited to hear the dreaded words that he was a disappointment to his father. Jonathan 'Jack' Alexandre Weiss was a tall man, six foot four inches barefoot with a deep base voice that would be intimidating if not for the bright sapphire eyes his son had inherited from him.

"Son," The deep gentle voice stated calmly as he motioned for Alex to come to him. The young boy walked slowly embarrassed and dejected, stopping in front of his father's large legs head down looking at the lush carpet. Jack's face softened seeing his little boy and obviously wasn't close enough to his father as his long arms reached out setting the little land on his lap. Wrinkles be damned. The large man chuckled and continued as he rubbed comfortingly his son's small back. "Firstly, I love you Alex!" Alex's eyes shocked and round as saucers stared at his daddy. "Secondly, I'm proud of your intellect and tenacity." The large man chuckled happily. "I must ask though, what on earth did your sister do to earn such a vindictive action on your part?" The two sets of sapphire eyes sparkled at each other.

"You're not mad at me Daddy?" Alex's small voice broke out in disbelief to which his daddy shook his head. Comforted, Alex continued his dynamic face lighting up as he told what happened to his father. "Katy called my Lego space station, you know the one you helped me make, 'stupid' and she broke it in pieces!"

The big man's laughter boomed in the small office and joined by his smaller protégé's giggles. Finally, Jack stopped laughing and patted his son of the back. "Good job! However," his left eyebrow arched on his forehead. "You need to apologize to the girls, and not do that again okay?"

Alex nodded his small head to his daddy and asked. "Why did you ask Mama if she wanted you to discipline me?"

The man's eyes softened as he looked at his son and then at the door his beloved had walked out of earlier. "Son, always give the women in your life your support, understanding and always ask if they _**want**_ your help. There is always time for communication and _**never**_ force an issue except that you are there for them."

Squeezing his son, the father continued, "As to your punishment, no Xbox for a month." The little boy's body deflated in his lap. Nevertheless, his daddy continued with his blue eyes sparkling. "But, we can still do Mario Cart when I get home from work." The boy grinned again happily at his father. "Don't see why your hacking adventures should punish me from working on finally beating you at Rainbow Road…"

* * *

Lighting flashed and thunder boomed above them as Alex continued climbing. At least that was what he was trying to do. Everything was slick from the rain and try as he might the only reason he was not dead was because of the expert climber above him. They hadn't exchanged a single word since starting their climb and that was fine with Alex. He still seethed inside about what had happened but more than that, he was deeply worried about Lara. Something was not right, and she stubbornly would not let him in. Not that letting him in would necessarily help, but it would make his frustration much less and easier to understand her position. Was that selfish of him? Of course it was. However, Alex was a human after all.

Grabbing on to a rock as he got a surer foothold, Alex watched Lara patiently make a path up the sheer cliff-face. They had only another fifteenish feet to go yet Alex's arms ached from the exertion and his forearm was on fire from where the wolf had bitten him. The thought of just ending his suffering came to his mind again. While enticing as that was, it was something he would never do.

Slowly, they made it up and finally crested the top. Alex collapsed onto his back as his muscles screamed at him in fierce protest at the torture they had endured at the request of his pride and willpower. Lara was couching next to him and took a swig from her water canteen as she studied the area around them.

The stream ran in its swift bubbling course toward the cliffs where it skipped and fell down in a series of beautiful waterfalls. A few green trees clutching to the rocky ground grew around them with the stubbornness only mountain trees seemed to possess. Around forty feet from them were some dilapidated and rundown buildings with oil lamps lit bathing the area in a dim depressing glow. Suddenly, she stiffened and clapped a hand over Alex's mouth startling him. He could feel his eyes widen in surprise as she gestured him to be quiet pointing to the shacks. He turned and saw three gruff men were walking around and chatting to each other.

Painfully, Alex rolled into a crouch and drew his Colt 1911 from behind his back as Lara had drawn her bow and expertly notched her arrow and calmly stalked forward toward the men.

"Wait Lara!" Alex hissed softly. "Can we not go around them?"

His heart clinched painfully in his chest as her dark eyes met his. He shuddered at the emotionally flat reply hissed back to him. "No, they're dead men walking."

"Lara!" Alex tried again feeling his body start to sweat profusely. However, Lara had pulled back swiftly aiming and the soft _twang_ of her bowstring died in the steady pouring rain. One of the men had separated from the others and was by himself, Alex watched as the man sank to his knees hands raised clutching his neck where her arrow was now lodged firmly. With a soft gurgle, he slid down onto the ground as his life slowly ebbed from his body.

Stunned, Alex watched Lara calmly draw another arrow and this time she let it hit the second man in his right thigh causing him to let out a brutal scream falling against the side of the building. The last man spun around with his own bow notched and drawing a shot toward Lara as Alex nailed him with an accurate double tap in his chest with his 1911. The man went down and except for his leg twitching was still. Alex swore fiercely as he watched Lara vault over to the wounded man and rip the arrow mercilessly from his thigh.

The scream was deafening as Lara pressed her boot into the wound. In horror, Alex hurried over but Lara was hissing at her injured captive.

"How many of you are around here?"

The man's arms flailed around helplessly as he sobbed in agony. "Two!" he gestured wildly further up the path. "God! Two!"

Grunting, Lara lifted her climbing pick and to Alex's utter shock swung it into the man's skull. The body shuddered and then went still.

Pulling the axe free with a sickening noise, Lara wiped it off on the dead man's chest. All the while, Alex starred at her in dull shock.

Briefly, Lara's eyes slid to him and then away to the dead men around them. "We should search the bodies, and then hide them in the brush." She gestured toward the corpses. She drew a long breath, and started to loot the body in front of her.

Coldness that had nothing to do with the rain settled like a blanket over his shoulders, as he turned away from her. Disgusted and angry, Alex quickly searched the man he had killed. Twenty-seven bullets, a six inch hunting knife, some jerky and a treasure… a compass. Alex closed the man's eyes and turned back to see Lara dragging one of the bodies into the brush and then heading to the first man she had killed. Alex picked up his and threw it next to hers.

It was a smart move; he knew it was. However, he was having a hard time being as callous enough for the dirty work. He was an electrical engineering student and a hacker, not a wet working Navy Seal. Bile rose in his throat watching Lara 'retrieve' her arrow from the dead man's neck and roughly search the corpse. He tried not to but could not help it. Alex vomited violently into the brush and then turned to the creek and washed his mouth out and wished he could wash out the filthiness off his soul. Lara walked up to him and he kept looking at his hands as he tried to scrub them clean. _'An impossible task honestly.'_ He could tell she was shifting awkwardly on her feet and fiddling with her hands. Her voice broke ever so slightly, "Alex," His heart clenched and his shoulders stiffed at her use of his name. "it was necessary."

The word hung there in front of his mind as he stared at it angrily. _'Necessary…'_ The word grated his soul and mind. _'Necessary!'_ He could feel something snap inside him. Anger, hurt, betrayal emotionally flooded through him. _'Necessary!'_

He spun on this frustratingly, beautiful, deadly, fascinating young woman before him. Something in his face caused her to step back from him. His words came calm and colder than the continuous rain around them. " _ **Necessary**_ Lara?! We will never know now!' Pointing around them at the foliage and buildings. "Could we have avoided them? Found a way around? We will _**NEVER**_ know now!"

Hurt flashed in the liquid brown pools as Lara swallowed hard. "Alex…"

"I am not finished!" Alex interrupted icily hand raised with his palm facing her to stop her advance to touch him. His eyes alight with cold blue fire. "I do not know where this Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde version of you came from Lara, but I want _**nothing**_ to do with it or you."

Tears coming down her face Lara tried to step closer to Alex but he maintained his distance from her.

"Alex…" She brokenly stated, tears in her voice. "It is necessary for our survival." He flinched at her _necessary_ but she continued. "Like you said before, us or them. I choose _**US!**_ "

"Damn you!" Alex swore, anger in his countenance. "Don't you dare use those words against me. IF _**this**_ ," he pointed to where she had executed the man. "is the cost Lara, I'm not sure I want to live. If we live through this horror show of an island, there is no _**us**_." He squared his shoulders determinedly. "I'll help you survive, I promised you and Roth, and I'll kill and hide the bodies for you, but once we get back to England, I never want to see you again." He pointedly gestured between them. "Whatever _**this**_ is it is done. Finished!"

He spun away and forcefully strode down the path, with Lara standing behind him tears streaking down mixing with the rain on her face.

* * *

 **Yeah... I'm going to go hide under a rock now and start writing the next chapter. Thanks to y'all that made it this far.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Thanks,**

 **Jack**


	13. Chapter 10: Lonely When Together

_**Another Chapter! What?! Jack what are you doing? Well, as this is probably y'all's reaction to this posting, please know that this story comes at a great cost. I had sleep insomnia all night, and so decided to make something practical happen and this chapter wrote itself from my poor sleep deprived brain. I know some of y'all were surprised from the last chapter. I was too. So, I hope y'all enjoy this next installment. Please let me know what y'all think.**_

 _ **Review Replies! :D**_

 _ **RedHood001: That is a decent view point of the chapter. Poor Alex and even more so poor Lara. The trauma is definitely getting to her and understandably so imo. I'm not a doctor either, I'm just a fanfiction writer. PTSD is so very sad to me. I remember coming to work one day and my one of my old officemates was huddled in the corner, he was just flashing back to his tour in Afghanistan. It took me all morning to help him back to the present.**_

 _ **Tearox09: Yep! We got a messy breakup! Hahahaha (okay I was always bad at the evil laugh but don't judge me! :D ) This is a long story and so that you have some hope notice the story does have them as a pairing. Yes, killing will never leave you the same. It forever changes parts of you and I want this taken seriously as the game has no problem whatsoever making her a damn killing machine and almost psychotic killer at the end. As to voices in your head… might what to get that checked out dude… jk.:D**_

 _ **NoirValor: Yay! I'm so glad. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had moved on. (I did let this story rest for over a year) Yeah, I am hoping to pick of the pace faster and faster if I can, while maintaining some of the more important details.**_

 _ **Enjoy my friends! Please, please, please R &R! If you like it, let me know. If you hate it, let me know. **_

* * *

_**Chapter 11: Lonely When Together**_

Silence is not always golden and only in extremely rare instances. More likely though, silence can be a painful wound that is pressed and twisted on the aching of a soul. Lara was experiencing that challenging phenomena now, as hours had past and she had never felt more alone. The two of them had continued up the rocky pathway from the corpses where also lay their friendship rotting in the brush. Alex plodded along exchanging only the minimum amount of words as was necessary, and he had kept his damn word. They had come upon the other two men and Alex had silently helped kill them, his face grim and dark as he had looted the corpses and disposed of them. He calm, haunting demeanor was such that caused Lara's heart to clinch inside her realizing that it, whatever the help it had been, was truly over. He saw her as some kind of monster, a _necessary_ evil that he had unfortunately damned himself to by the honor of his word.

Still, after just the taste of what they might have been, made everything else seem bland and lifeless. There was no longer any of the glowing admiration anymore in his sapphire eyes; only the icy steel that shielded his soul from her observation. It was astounding to her, that while she had no claim on him, his utter indifference to her crushed her broken heart harder. What made it worse was that while he thought her as nothing, her opinion of him had only grown. The more she saw of who Alex was; the more amazing she found him. Even this dispassionate manner was one that showed her how deeply life mattered to him. While he had helped eliminate their enemies, he had always treated the bodies with a solemn respect and reverence. Closing their eyes and laying them down in an orderly manner. It was an absolute waste of time and energy, they were dead just leave them there, but his actions spoke to her haunted soul. When she had mentioned it to him, hoping for just a moment that he would grant her some mercy. He had gazed dulling into her eyes as he motioned toward the corpses, "I would want the same level of respect." He sadly shook his head, "They wouldn't give it to me of course, but I would still want that kindness." He looked out over the clearing around them with a solemnness matching the sad harsh cawing of the crows flying above them. "How can I demand that which I will not give myself?" Not waiting for her reply he had turned resolutely from the bodies and marched onward and upward, Lara could tell though, there was a burden weighing down on his shoulders that he refused to let her help carry.

 _'Not that I really am in any place to carry anyone's burdens…'_ Lara grimaced as she followed the man in front of her. She understood now mistaken she had been on the cliff face, when she pretended to not remember hitting Alex. _'Stupid! Stupid me!'_ She had just hoped irrationally that she could brush aside her demons for a moment and not let Alex see the horrible monstrosity that she was, and then there had been the brief skirmish on the top of the cliff. She still didn't fulling understand his distress and horror at her actions, they were the enemies that were trying to kill, rape and destroy their lives. Somehow that didn't click in Alex's mind though, he saw them as… human? Somehow, he valued these monsters' lives as something precious and valuable. He didn't want to kill them, he wanted to avoid, to spare, to let them live. They didn't deserve that! All they deserved was death, slow and painful. These were the people that had killed the crewmembers of the Endurance like David, and had taken her best friend and were planning to burn her alive for their sadistic gods and the will of a mad man.

There was nothing Lara could do though but follow Alex as they snaked through wet forests, rocky mountain crevices and through destroyed bunkers and buildings toward the radio tower where all the hopes rested. They had to get to the tower. They had to get a signal for help out. They had to be saved. Life was too precious to thrown away casually.

 _'What about their lives though?'_ Her psyche calmly broke through her fragile mind shattering her peace like a glass dropped on a tile floor scattering in to hundreds of pieces. Lara stopped sharply as her brain filled with voices yell obscenities at each other as she hung on for the wild ride.

 _'They aren't human Lara!'_ The hissing darkness whispered through her. _'No shame or tragedy in killing something subhuman. Are they even alive? We can't kill something if its not even worth calling alive.'_

 _'But they are alive!'_ The response came strong and angry. _'We can't lose her to this darkness again. She might never come back from it.'_

 _'So?'_ The mocking voice replied with its subtle hiss. _'She would be alive to enjoy many years of peace back in England. Don't you want that, Lara?'_

 _'You can't promise what you don't control! You're just manipulating her so you can be the one calling the shots.'_

A vicious hatred seethed inside, snapping sharply back causing Lara to shiver as she sank down against a tree despite the rough texture of the bark on her back. _'I can_ _ **save**_ _her more surely than you can with all your hormonal tendencies and weapons. I'm the survivor! I'll get her to survive!'_

Her psyche stayed silent for a long while as Lara gasped horror and darkness surfacing swirling around her soul starting to engulf her. Drowning her, as she desperately tried to breathe under the torrent of darkness that endeavored trying to blot out any light. She could hear the hissing triumphantly swirling in her mind. _'I've won! I've won! I've won!'_ it crowed with satisfaction.

 _'Not quite…'_ A small tentative whisper barely audible spoken through the dark hurricane of hate. _'Not quite yet anyway.'_

Suddenly like a flash of lighting in the darkness of her mind, a new voice came through. Alex's voice, strong with tears unmistakably clear in his masculine voice. _'We need to be better and witnessing the darkness of others, we can't allow ourselves to fall down the rabbit hole with them.'_

 _'NO! Damn you! Why won't you just DIE!'_ Shrieked the hissing monstrosity. ' _Why won't you just DIE!_

It was almost as if her psyche was laughing at its nemesis' distress. As it didn't respond, but Alex's voice continued, as memories flooded her mind.

 _'How dare you! Lara, Listen to yourself! They are_ _ **just**_ _like us!'_ The strong voice stated with rage and then to begging as he whispered, as his voice echoed though the deep recesses of her soul. _'Please, don't lose yourself, don't stop being Lara Croft!'_

Silence reigned painful for a moment before the evil hiss could be heard again in her mind. _'You can't kill me, I'm part of you now Lara Croft. We are connected for all eternity.'_

 _'True.'_ Lara's own voice replied growing with strength as she stated each word. ' _But I don't need you anymore! Go back to your lair and stay there.'_

* * *

After a few minutes, Alex had felt the tentative lack of a presence behind him and realized that Lara was no longer following. Swerving around his blue eyes studied the path traveled so far. The cawing of the crows and the sound of the rain the only noises he could hear. Squinting in the downpour, he looked down the path and still could not see Lara. Worry started to raise its disgusting head before Alex slammed down on it with anger. She was capable of taking care of herself. He had seen that, she was a survivor. She would be just fine on her own. In fact, he felt more pity for his enemies then for her at the moment. The brutal efficiency in which she killed still made him want to vomit. Sure, was it a us versus them conversation… of course, Lara had been somewhat right, when he was willing to assess and calm down slightly, oh ever so slightly. But he was disgusted, because if this was what was needed to survive he was deeply concerned the man he would be would be viewed by his mother and sister as some primal beast only fit for the wild woods and horror that had created such a monstrosity as himself. _**That**_ was what he hated… the loneliness that would come if he survived the damn island of Yamatai. No one would understand him, could comprehend what he had seen and been forced to do. The memory of his father, ruined by his action and he, his father's son becoming the one thing he had so far never been…. A disappointment. His greatest fear was not dying; people died all the time. Most often before, they had ever really started living. Yet, the idea that his father would have been ashamed of him grated against his soul and caused an anxiety that no words could change. It was that dread that had driven him in continuing in his father's footsteps and succeeded so much at college to make his father's memory proud of him.

Still squinting into the rain, Alex couldn't see Lara. Grumbling he started back down the rough path. Was she fine? Most likely. For all he knew she was hacking some corpse apart with her pickaxe while screaming some type of war cry… Grimly he shook the prejudiced vision from his mind. Yes, could it be. Of course. But, it didn't need to be believed and he was having sufficiently of a hard time keeping his promise without poisoning his opinion anymore then it was ruined of her. She was a tormented soul, that was simple to see, however, he was not going to let that excuse or reason or whatever the hell he wanted to label it cause him to compromise his values. No one deserved that type of power over him. The rocks crunched under his boots as he plodded along madly wishing that he had just Lasiked his eyes years ago as his glasses kept fogging over and then get rain splattered making it almost impossible to see in the twilight.

He felt himself tripping and falling down on the rocks before he saw the obstacle at his feet. He groaned, pulling himself on the cold wet gravel to see he what had caused him to stumbled. Lara sat huddled with her knees to her chest as she stared into the darkness around them. Her shapely mouth was moving as she was whispering something to herself and Alex watched with sadness seeping into him from the sight. Was he angry and disgusted by her actions and barbarism? Yes, but he did care for her. At least maybe whom he thought she was. Maybe the tormented soul in front of him was the real Lara Croft and he had just deceived himself into to thinking that the beautiful and funny girl that had been his friend was a façade that she wore to mask her true nature. _'I know that's not fair!'_ He thought looking at the girl in front of him with sorrow. _'I just don't know her really. She never talks about herself. Always hides true self deep inside and never, ever, talks about her family and past.'_ He shallowed harshly and he turned and looked into the dark woods. He was _**not**_ going to touch her having learned that lesson the painfully. In addition, if he did, he was not sure he would be able to let go again if he needed to for his own self-preservation.

Therefore, he opted for the one action he could accomplish safely. Drawing his gun, he sat down four feet from her and stared up the path. He would be her guardian angel of death watching over her while she battled her demons or whatever the hell they were.

Time ticked by slowly as Alex watched solemnly over the girl as he gaze torn to the red flashing light high above them. _'Not too much further really.'_ He guessed quietly to himself. _'We should reach there not to long now. We'll get the SOS out and get off this damn island and back home.'_ Home, what an interesting thought. Home was a concept that he could understand, but it was not the building but the people he wanted to get back too. Call his mother and tell her that he loved her. Hold his sister in a tight hug. Go to his father's gravestone, share a drink of whiskey with him, and talk. Go out for dinner with Aliyah and his friends and just laugh. Something simple like bowling or pool, anything that was done over food and drinks. There was so much more to life then this! And really why were they here? To find some long forgotten island with some treasure? The world had survived for thousands of years without Yamatai, why did it need it now? And at such a cost, to them. He could remember the screams as he had been hung upside down and tortured, remembered the attack on their campfire. He remembered the two men he had killed in the woods. It was haunting to think he had done all this for… a girl. Someone he didn't even really know. A mysterious and sexy bartender who had fascinated him with her clouds of secrets and beauty.

Scoffing harshly Alex, glanced back at the dark haired beauty. Surely, if his father was alive he would have been ashamed of his son. He had taught him better than this. He was going to help people, continuing his father's work for a safer and better world. Yet, here was his only son. Hunting for treasure like a damnable pirate, trying to survive hopeless souls lost in the evilness of a lonely existence on this haunted island. _'Shit! Even the wind sounded possessed.'_ Sure, they were finding out something about Sam's familiar history… but really in the grand scheme of the world who really cares what kind of crap ones ancestors once did? What are _**you**_ doing to make the world a better place? Did you add a smile on the face of a person on the street that you passed? Or caused a child to laugh with a gift? Give someone a hug who hadn't asked, but desperately needed one? It didn't have to be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, just something kind and good. But no, here what he had done was kill. Destroy, crush, hurt, shatter and break the dreams of human beings so lost in the darkness around them they had succumbed to the hopelessness trying to suffocate them. And he had killed them. His mind wandered to Dutch, who for nine years had been separated from his family. From his life that he had once lived happily. He wasn't some demon, some inconceivable horrifying monster that Alex could just snuff out without a second thought… he was a human. A living being of Alex's own species who could laugh, cry, sing, swear, build, destroy, live and die. Dutch had a future, and how could Alex truly justify ending someone's future for the sake of his own? How selfish was he truly capable of being?

... How selfish was he truly capable of being?

The question dangled in front of him, for a while as he contemplated it. His sleep deprived brain racked with grief and pain, tried to comprehend the incomprehensible. If he wasn't too selfish to let these people live, or at least try, why was he too selfish to forgive the girl behind him? Well because she knew better, she was better than that surely! Nevertheless, was she? Alternatively, was he just assuming his own familiar values on the young girl? What if, she had not been trained to view life as a sacred gift and viewed survival as the only valuable trait worth having? He had never really imagined that someone as seemingly innocent as Lara could be a vicious killer. He shuddered violently remembering her pickaxe enter in a sickening crunch into the man's skull. Remembering the darkness in her eyes as she callously cleaned it on the warm corpse. How really could he have _**anything**_ to do with someone like that?

' _Because,'_ He thought sadly as tears welled into his sapphire eyes. _'I refuse to believe that is really her… and I may be delusional but I earnestly hope that it's not the case. She could be great!'_ He looked over again and started as two brown pools stared at him surrounded by her dark hair. She was studying him, and it caused a cold sweat to break across his body. In the darkness, he was unsure if it was predatory or not. However, one thing he was suddenly, absolutely, confident in as the depressing loneliness settled on him…

… He no longer trusted Lara Croft to be more of an angel than a demon ...

* * *

The chill was what had snapped her out of the mental grey fog as Lara realized she was crouching in the darkness. Rain cruelly persisted in its course from the heavens, leaving her soaked and miserable. However, her ears could make out the subtle breathing not far from her. As she slowly, painfully raised her weary head, her hair cascading around her she stared at her companion. There he was, the guardian, perched on his toes with his arms resting on his knees looking outward around them with his weapon of destruction ready for the slightest hint of danger. He looked like one of the ancient sculptures that sit like silent sentinels on crumbling cathedral rooftops. He was motionless, except for this vivid blue eyes flashing in his face as he kept his vigil over her as she recovered from the darkness.

For the first time in a while, Lara felt almost carefree as her wounded mind tried to focus on what had happened. The perpetual hissing voice had gone silent, and her head was clear of the oppressive darkness. In fact, she couldn't hear any voices even her more dry psyche had finally gone quiet and in some ways she missed its persistent ribbing and commentary on her actions. The silence was lonely, even if it was what she should normally have happening in her brain. Yet, with Alex having withdrawn from her, Roth far behind, and Sam lost somewhere ahead, Lara felt incredibly alone… not even the voices in her head to at least talk to about her problems and situations. Still though, she loved the feeling of peace even at the dreaded cost of loneliness. She watched as Alex turned his head slowly and their eyes met, the icy blue flash in his eyes clashing with hers in a storm of _somethingness_. She could almost taste the fear that flitted swiftly across his countenance, and her mouth soured bitterly knowing she was the reason for that fear.

Silently, she watched his Adam's Apple bob up and down in his throat. Neither of them said a word to break the absolute quiet except of the drizzling rain as finally started to slow its perpetual falling. Tension rested like a coiled spring between her shoulder blades as she watched the eerie predawn light reveal the stern face as the small water deposits reflected the light off his glasses. Lara could feel her heart ache as the man in front of her looked away and rose to his feet slowly, painfully and start walking up the path… without a single word.

Her body screamed at her as she too rose, bones creaking and muscles on fire from all the abuse she had put herself through. Still the voices were silent in her head, yet she followed the tall figure ahead of her. She could see a road of some sort ahead of them and knew by some sixth sense that would lead them both toward their goal. It seemed by some deathly quiet method Alex also came to the same conclusion as he plodded along left hand still clutching his 1911 in calm determination as though daring the island Yamatai to try to stop his resolute progress. She envied his conviction, his calm even as she resented how rapidly and decisively she had been excluded of the circle of his care.

 _'Yet, I had been safe.'_ She thought quietly to herself as she followed in her regular stride watching his backpack sway slightly in front of her. _'Completely safe with him watching over me. So, in some ways, he still cares about me. Small ways…'_

They came to a worn broken down bridge with a rusted dilapidated ruin of a truck resting on its deflated tires. Lara scoffed quietly, it felt wrong to break the silence that reigned supreme between them. Having just passed the truck, Alex had turned and looked toward her with a sardonic eyebrow raised in questions as Lara felt panic rush through her. Rising from behind the vehicle in Alex's blind spot was an enemy who flung himself on the unsuspecting young man latching his arms around Alex's neck as the two blurred in her vision in a flurry of motion.

A gun went flying through the air and landing to a skidding halt from the two wrestling men, Lara stared in horror knowing neither the gun nor bow would be of any use to her. Her pickaxe rested in her hand as she ready herself for any opening to engage.

Elbowing his adversary in the ribs hard, Alex had broken away in a scuffle of sharp punches and kicks as both men now circled each other with knives drawn. It was a deadly dance as both, tried to spill the other's blood while retaining their own. Slashing out, Alex feinted to the left before spinning to his right and kicking the man's let kneecap in an attempt to break it. Unsuccessfully, as the man dodged but it proved to be his own undoing as his back was vulnerable to the waiting Lara who didn't hesitate to forcefully slam the pickaxe firmly into his unprotected back. The scream rang around them until Alex leapt forward and clamped his hand over his adversary's mouth and then silenced him forever with a swift thrust into his neck. He held it there, calmly with a blank emotionlessness on his filthy face, as the man's eyes slowly grew dim and the body stilled. Alex pulled his knife out as blood splattered around them as the man's dead body slowly drained its life giving fluid onto the old steel bridge's floor.

She didn't notice the corpse though, as all her focus was on her… friend?... companion? Yeah, companion. Alex's face just stayed calm as he, turned away from her and she watched his shoulders shudder as his back expanded and contracted as he tried to regiment his breathing again to being more controlled as he recovered.

Tentatively, Lara gently touched his shoulder only for him to stiffen and pull away. She tried to swallow unsuccessfully the painful lump in her throat. Nevertheless, Lara was not going to be a coward again like she had been on the cliffs. "Alex?" She reached out again for his shoulder and this time while he didn't relax he also didn't pull away. "Alex? Are you okay?"

The rough dismissive scoff was her answer as his blue eyes looked at her and for all too brief moment there was a flash of emotion dancing deeply there before falling behind the icy steel wall again. "Of course not, I just killed a man."

Walking to his fallen gun, he roughly grabbed it and thrust it behind his back angrily. He cleaned the blood off his knife against his pant leg leaving a dark bloody stain and then sheathed it in his belt. For a moment, he looked out over the rolling mountain slopes down to the water as the sun slowly rose over the horizon miles away. The pale cold yellow light glinted of his face as he stared out before quietly stating. "It's a new day Lara."

Stepping beside him, carefully keeping the distance, she neither wanted nor needed, as she gazed out at the expansive ocean before them. A new day…

"I wonder." he continued sadly, still not deigning her with a glance as she stared up at his face. "What other horrible things will happen to us? How much more of our own humanity will be sacrificed and stripped off of us on this damn island?"

Guilt clogged her throat as Lara watched the grief plainly stamped on his features. She after all, was the reason why he was even on this voyage with her. He could have still been back in England working on his degree, and being with friends and colleagues that were not under the constant threat of death. Not stuck with her, a survivor who was barely maintaining her own sanity. She looked away as the tears threatened to fall from her eyes as the painful beauty all around was marred by the corpse behind them. She knew she had to say something. Common decency, while he might not believe she possessed it any more, compelled her.

"I'm sorry Alex…" as he had turned and said simultaneously to her words. "Thank you Lara…"

Confusion danced in her head. "What?" they both said again at the same time, and she could tell from the lines on his forehead he was equally confused.

She held up her hand stopping him from speaking as she went first to try and clear up both of their muddled brains. "I'm sorry Alex." She repeated softly looking into the icy blue eyes in the blood speckled face. "I'm so, so sorry." She watched him swallow sharply and look away from her, something akin to disbelief flashing across his face. Nonetheless, she wasn't finished. She knew there was nothing that could be said to repair the gigantic chasm she had created between them. Oppressively, her conscience demanded at least the attempt. "I am sorry. Sorry, that you are stuck on this damn island." She waved her hand around the landscape before them as she ranted on. "Sorry you have to be trying to survive as people endeavor to kill you. Sorry, I brought this on you. Sorry, I have hurt you. Sorry, we are in this God forsaken place where you've witnessed incomprehensible evil. Sorry, you were tortured. Sorry, I destroyed your faith in me. Sorry, I…"

A slender finger on her lips stopped her triad, as her shocked brown eyes stared into the sapphire fire before her. There was a tenderness in the gesture, which caused her tears to fall only for his gentle thumb to wipe them from off her cheek.

"Shh…" He whispered straight into her soul. "Lara," his eyes met hers and she felt a warmth she had lacked for a while inside her rekindle tenfold. "I forgive you." He started to withdrawn his had but she grasped it in her scarred one before it left her face. Briefly, there was a hard flash in his eyes before he gently murmured, "Let go Lara." Heart clinching she did, she felt as if she was losing her anchor but she would not force him to be that for her. Straightening, his shoulders with his hand resting in his pocket, Alex motioned around them with his left arm. "I choose to come Lara, and while I desperately wish I hadn't, that does not make my decision your fault. You are _not_ responsible for my actions." His next words grated her soul as his tone became much, much harder. "You are only answerable for _**your own actions**_." He looked away from her and took a deep long breath. "And for your actions toward and against me, I forgive you." Relief flooded her as she saw the peace and truth in his face at those words. "However," he continued. "I can't forgive or condone what you have done to others. Your viciousness and hatred, your callous nature toward our enemies I can't and will not reconcile with such mannerisms." Alex tiredly shrugged his shoulders and his posture sagged despondently. "I don't really know who you are Lara, a vicious survivor or a surviving victim? The young girl I knew at Nine Bells or this hardened killing machine that seems so at home in this evil place. And I meant what I said earlier last night." He eyes sad and yet resolute. "I want nothing to do with you if who you are is the latter."

Silence awkwardly hung over them, until the sound of birds chirping and singing their trilling song. Even the birds were welcoming the arrival of the sun after such an awful night. However, as they continued their vigil of the sun rising, Alex was not yet finished.

"I must thank you though," his quiet voice strangely calm. "you, whoever you are, saved my life just now. And many other times in the past and most likely oncoming future. But I would be a damned hypocrite if I won't extend the same mercy to you as I would toward our enemies. I made the mistake of believing you were better than them… And you most certainly are not."

The harsh words slashed and cut deep wounds into Lara as she shuddered and her body racked with soundless sobs. The calm and sure verdict rolling from Alex's mouth shattered her more completely then if she was to jump to the sharp rocks hundreds of meters below her.

"However," her broken heart heard barely over her own pain. "I can't keep treating you as my enemy, even if you can't be considered my friend. We have to be allies or we will both die. Therefore allies we must be."

He turned away from her walked a few meters before stopping and motioning for them to continue. The vast concrete building looming ahead of them as even higher than that one of the mountain peaks was the radio town taunting them resolutely in the yellow morning light.

* * *

 _ **[Me: crying my eyes out] Oh the angst! Come on Alex! Surely there must have been a kinder way to say this? where is my happy couple?**_

 _ **[evil me] obviously dead on Yamatai...**_

 _ **Note: I will not be posting a new chapter again until next week sometime. I want to go back and update my older chapters and flush out some things and try to fix some typos, poor grammar and such. I just reuploaded the first chapter with some extra detail and hopefully less painful writing.**_

 _ **Have a great weekend y'all!**_

 _ **-Jack**_


	14. Chapter 11: Fighting to Live

_**Y'all! I'm back again. I started writing this chapter and originally it was going to be like 1000 words and a much bigger chunk of the story. However, once I started copying my handwritten notes. (I write everything by hand and then type it) 1k words became 5k and this original chapter would have ended being around 20k words and that's too big.**_

 _ **So hopefully y'all enjoy this slice of the story and I promise next chapter will bring important story parts to it.**_

 _ **Review Replies! YAY!**_

 _ **Bigdaddycrag01: You are welcome! I am glad to be back here working on this story. I'm just glad y'all enjoy it. :)**_

 _ **Let me know what y'all think. And until then I hope you enjoy.**_

 _ **\- I don't own Tomb Raider -**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11: Fighting to Live**_

When it all came down to it, Lara had to admit despite herself that Alex was a good ally. She was still hurting over their bitter conversation and in some ways grateful and others indignant. Grateful that everything was now out in the open and she could now bring them to a point of reconnecting and who knew maybe they could come to a point of forgiveness on both sides. Both sides, because Lara was extremely angry with Alex, how could he possibly believe let alone say that she was as bad as their enemies were? The very notion made her seethe inside against the nerdy young man. As amazing as he was, she was pissed at how carelessly he had placed her in the same status as sadistic rapists, murderers, cultists or any such debased creature. Sure, she was a survivor. That was a good thing, not something that one should be lambasted for being competent and living despite of the horror around them. Someone had to accomplish the jobs and tasks required for their continued survival and dammit, she was going to do it if no one else was tough enough for the task. She had done what was necessary for saving not only her own life but also the lives of her friends, which included Alex's self-righteous ass. And sure, it was a fine ass, but he just conveniently forgot that he owned his life to her! He would have died under Dutch's oh so gentle care.

Yet, Lara despite herself knew she was not as confident of that fact. Alex would have been dying regardless of her intervention and maybe her care had helped him but that care was not the warrior survivor but the calm and cool mountaineer that she had been with Roth for years. His argument, when she was willing to consider it, seemed more focused on the manner in which she chose to survive and he potentially had a point. Potentially, not definitely. Had she let some more blood thirst reactions happen… yes? Moreover, Lara dreaded if Alex ever saw what she had done in that village. Even when thinking about what she had done made her shiver. Yes, the darkness of the soul can be very loathsome and vile to gaze on. Such to cause one to almost despise oneself. Could she give herself justifications as to why her actions were not condemnable giving the situation? Yes, but she would know that they were just excuses to ease a troubled conscious. Did it change the facts that she needed to survive and this is what it took? No, nevertheless she did not need to give up her soul to survive and she knew that deep down in the depths of her own self. She had gone too far.

That was where some of the anger came from though; she knew that she desired some of that self-loathing because what she had done was loathsome. However, she would rationalize it as necessary. Was it wrong to do so? That was a question for a psychologist when they returned to England to answer. Now she had neither the time nor willpower to confront that demon who would have loved to wrestle with her over her past actions in a struggle of who would rule her life. Therefore, she did not, like her feelings she shoved those thoughts and contemplations away and focused on the task at hand. For it was a much safer past time. Her anger toward herself and Alex would not be able to save them from the arrows and bullets their enemies would levy against them.

In the light of the sun, which had risen during their fateful argument, Lara and Alex had slowly snuck their way along the broken pathways and buildings of a ruined encampment. It had been somewhat hard to see the dismal living conditions their foes resided in; yet, Lara could only feel marginal sympathy if it was even that for the rough scoundrels. Moreover, despite her anger, she could feel her respect grow for the quiet young man with her as they almost silently crept through the shadows and ruins avoiding engagement with their enemies, which turned out to be good as the place had at least fifteen men wandering around. Deep inside her, in that vengeful fire with its never satisfied flames constantly seeking fulfillment was the desire to kill every single one of these men. They were the greatest evil she had ever witnessed, yet two clear blue eyes would somehow persuade her to seek alternative routes, which of course took longer and was more nerve racking because discovery was not an option. It had been at the very edge of the camp where everything they had hoped to achieve had fallen dismally apart.

Alex had checked around them carefully to make sure everything was clear and had missed the man leaning casually against a shadowy corner having a smoke. They had basically tripped over the man, and then chaos erupted upon them. The cry of alarm rose from the man throat before Lara's arrow could silence him; Alex's hand clapped down and held the man as his life ebbed out. Nevertheless, it was too late. Eyes meeting as the fateful noise of men running reached their ears as they prepared themselves for the coming onslaught. Crouching down below a low wall Lara, notched an arrow and started to control her breathing. In out, in out, in out. Calm and cool and waiting. Alex had taken a position next to the ruined wall beside the rough pathway and waited, 1911 in his left hand and his combat knife in his right. Lara could see the sweat starting to roll down his neck as they waited.

The waiting was not long. The shrill war cry caused Lara to shiver as four men charged down toward them. Two of them stopped lifting their bows as the other two charged forward darting serpentine toward her. Calm and cool… calm and cool. Focus… She let her arrow fly and fly it did, curving true as it impeded itself into the soft flesh of one of the archers. His warbling cry of astonishment and agony barely reached her ears as she anesthetized herself to it. She had calming notched another arrow behind cover and waited. As expected, the thundering roar of a 1911 ripped through the cool morning air in harmony with a scream of shock. It was the signal she had been waiting for, bursting from her cover she aimed at her target who had moved his focus from her to Alex. That would be the last mistake of his miserable existence. Gurgling as he feel to his knees the shock displayed in the wild eyes as futile hands grasped at the arrow lodged deep in his throat.

With the distance threats eliminated, Lara could only watch the vicious dual as the two men before her danced around in a complicated swirling motion as knives sought flesh and bone of their opponents. It was moments like this that caused her to contemplate how dangerously lethal Alex could be. Fighting with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her young, it seemed like he would not hold anything back. No move too dirty, no wound too inhumane for the young hacker, as he eventually emerged victorious with the blood of his opponent dripping sickly down his knife. Alex was competent but not a master, which was clear from them several long red cuts and bleeding scraps on his own body. Still, they were non-lethal and therefore of no concern to the survivor kneeing as he quickly closed his opponents' eyes and said some brief words of comfort and peace.

Time though was against them. This they knew all too well. Their enemy would be coming in droves for the lower camp levels and if they planned on escaping with their lives they needs must run, and run fast. They had not even gotten out of the far side of the building before they heard the hubbub behind them excellent to a deep-throated roar. It sent shivers down Lara's spine as she looked into her compatriots eyes and saw the same fear mixed with a weariness that spoke of the hopelessness inside him. There was only so much that ones willpower could achieve and Alex's will was strong. Yet, no one's strength was that great or resilient; not even Lara's would continue to strive like this for much longer. It would be one thing if all they had to fight were long range opponents, but the fanatically maniacs that charged them with bizarre arrangement of different types of melee weapons forced them to have Alex deal with them, while Lara eliminated with extreme satisfaction the further away enemies. However, that roar, it had spelt out in some ways their doom. They would have to turn and face their enemies as Alex was in no shape. This was when Lara finally understood while he hated violence he could be rather ruthless. With subpar knife skills in style, he was learning how to use the combat knife well enough to maintain holding his own life in his hands.

Without a word Alex and Lara started to lay their ambush, it was the only thing they could do, as running was no longer an option. Lara placed five arrows into the soft wet ground, notching a sixth arrow and waited. She hated waiting; she realized bitterly, so much of her life was waiting for the next evil thing to happen in her life. First was waiting for her father and mother to return to her from their expeditions and waiting for her mother to recover which never happened. So much waiting for fate. She despised the hopeless disappointment of not being able to _do_ anything but wait.

Alex was doing his own preparations as he reloaded his 1911 with an emotionless detachment, knelt down and rested on his ankles with his knife and gun gripped in blood stained hands as he stared deadly toward the ruins where their enemies would come charging.

The woods groaned around them as the wind wisped its way through the forest and swirled Lara's ponytail and bangs. She watched the back of Alex's head as his back was ramrod straight and for over ten minutes had not moved at all from his position… just waiting. Lara any other time would have joked with him that he had turned into a Buddhist monk stuck in 'meditation' pose. However, here, it was calming watching the wind rustle through his brown hair as he stared his icy gaze forward for the rushing tide, which was approaching with a thundering that was gathering in volume.

Their strategy was a rather basic as the eight men burst from the ruins into the woods toward the kneeing Alex and the hidden Lara. The cries of success turned quickly to pain and fear as Lara and Alex respectively released Hell on their pursuers. The 1911's unsatisfied and indignant roar echoed in the woods, as report after report fired. The men had tried serpentine charge toward Alex but of the eight, only two ever reached their target as Lara notched her fifth arrow and waited for an opening. Alex was again doing his deadly dance, which was mostly defensive as he avoided the melee weapons swinging at him by the two fanatics. So, caught up in watching this Lara failed to see the giant of a man approaching. She let her fifth arrow land squarely in one of the men's back as Alex rolled away and the 1911 roared again as his opponent sagged down in pre-death disbelief stamped on his rugged unkempt face.

Alex rose to his feet slowly as he sighed in relief, and that was the moment Lara saw the man. Her cry of warning was too late as Alex turned only to have a steel shield was bashed into his body as the force and momentum flung the poor engineer flying into a tree trunk several meters away. Lara watched in horror as there was no scream, nothing but a soft groan as Alex sank down onto the ground with once brilliant blue eyes dulled over as he blankly stared toward the giant man who stomped heavily toward Alex. The 1911 roared again, only for the man to raise his shield causing the bullet to ricochet off into the forest. Lara had leapt forward but knew she wouldn't make it. The sickening clang of metal on metal as the 1911 went soaring through the air as the man raised his shield and brought it done.

Feet frozen on the ground, Lara stared in utter shock as the man turned from the crushed body leaning haphazardly against the tree and grinned at her. The grin sparked a disturbing memory as Lara remembered the man who had tried to rape her. It was the same grin. Almost with blinding speed, Lara drew and launched her arrow, which embodied itself harmlessly in the shield as the man marched toward her laughing. Her last arrow, which she aimed at his feet joined the other as he moved with great dexterity blocked her last attempt to find an advantage.

Then he was upon her.

Brown ponytail flying around as she frantically dodged away from the brutal strike at her head as her worried eyes kept dancing toward the still body lying on against the tree. The stillness of the body caused a coldness to settle with icy coldness on her soul, and she felt empty. The man was 2.2 meters tall advanced with what looked like a refrigerator door as a shield his wild strong swings kept flying toward her as she kept flinging herself away from the sure death that was her opponent. However, the shield was only one threat. She ducked down barely missing from being hit with the iron nail spiked mace as she drew her climbing axe.

Speed was her only ally as she dodged around and observed her opponent as he continued swinging his weapon in long sweeping motions. Lara knew though that a frontal attack was a suicidal option and range was ineffective. Pressure though to finish him off because the present worry of Alex's still condition forced her to action.

Feinting to the right drawing the man's attention as she dug her foot into the soft dark woodland soil and launched herself toward the left. Her momentum forced her into a roll and as she came up on to her knees and saw her opportunity. The bellow was deafening as the man hobbled slowly away from her, he had dropped his club and was holding onto the back of his knee as red blood pulsed out of the brutal wound the pickaxe had made.

Lara rose with a grim smile as she twirled the axe in her hand. The man's kneecap was easily shattered and two more swings and the man was lying in his own blood still before her as she sucked air into her lungs adrenaline slowly decreasing inside her. Lara was surprised that despite the life-threatening situation she hadn't needed the voices to help her win. She had dispatched her enemy with lethal effectiveness yet… still felt like herself. Not that she wasn't herself, for who else could she be? Yet, she hadn't felt that darkness flooding over her and she hadn't needed its strength. As she looked at the corpse in front of her, Lara wondered briefly who he had been, and that curiosity so much a part of her made her wonder. _'Was this what Alex meant? To comprehend that even though we must kill these people they are also people. Not that I stop fighting but… don't demean the reality of this horror show that I am fighting humans beings like myself?_ ' It was troubling but maybe that would be a question to pose to the young man who's challenging views made her consider other… possibilities.

She could feel her heart beating painfully in her chest as she turned and looked over at the other motionless body around her. It was a moment she locked into her memory. Alex's face was peaceful. The long brown shaggy hair determined to overachieve each other in being messier. Strong face defined with a splattering of blood, mud and a brown stubble. His mouth normally in a grin was relaxed and at peace, yet a small stream of dried blood marred the peace at the corner of his lips. His haunting blue eyes closed as his body half lay on the ground and half against the trunk of the tree behind him. It was such a sight that had Lara not seen the fight she would have imagined he was relaxing and had just fallen asleep. But she knew better…

With halting steps she approached and sinking onto her knees, she whispered his name. Lara was almost worried to disturb his peace and yet was more worried that his peace would never again be disturbed. Her hands, crusted with dirt and blood gently ran through his hair as she knelt over him. The lack of reaction caused her heart and adrenaline to rise quickly as with shaking fingers she tried to feel for the life affirming pulse. Tried, but felt nothing. Panic rose to choke her throat as her hands darted to Alex's wrist and… nothing….

His pulse was as peaceful as his face.

Tears rose unbidden and unwanted to her eyes as her long lashes dashed them down her cheeks. For a moment, she stared through the blurry grey of her tears at the woods and ruins around them. She felt like screaming. Yelling at whatever ethereal power mocked her with its cursed wind and hatred toward all the unfairness of the last few days. _'It's not fair!'_ Lara could feel her spirit turning to steel. _'It's not fair! It's not right! He can't die, not now, not when there is so much unsaid and unexplored.'_ The hardness of reality and steel of her soul… yet only one can ever win. When two objects clash, only one can survive and the other is crushed. And reality never loses.

Broken Lara ghosted her slender fingers over Alex's lips and let her mind wander, all the ' _what ifs'_ and ' _what could have been'_ danced through her minds as she tried to memorize the moment.

"Please Alex, not today… not today." She could hear her halting whisper, it almost seemed like it was someone else speaking instead of her. The mourning tone in the voice was not her, she felt like she was watching a sad drama or Shakespearean play, instead of kneeling on age-old tree needles with the forest and mountains of the ancient island of Yamatai. "Not today… please."

Crying Lara laid her head down on Alex's chest and just let go. Why hold it back? All the horror and every loss she had suffered was encapsulated in this painful moment. Leaning away and sitting back her ankles she stared through her tears and once again touched Alex's cheek gently and her breath caught in her throat as disbelief stole the air from her lungs.

Sapphire eyes were staring straight into her soul briefly before closing again as Alex slowly drawled. "Wow Lara, that feels really nice."

"Alex!" unbelief mixed with elation Lara's arms encompassed him and lifted him into a hug. "You're alive?!"

"Currently yeah." Alex murmured into her shoulder. "Though I feel like a truck crashed into me."

"I didn't feel a pulse! I was so sure…"

Alex chuckled brokenly as a hand was gently rubbing her back. "Like I would leave you alone… come on Lara, give me some credit here. I'm not _that_ fickle."

She just kept holding him and rocking slightly in wonder, disbelief and joy, but most of all joy. Despite the tears that doggedly kept falling regardless of the smile on her face as she held the young man against her.

"I thought you had…"

"Nah, not yet anyway."

"Hush! I want to revel in this one happy moment okay?!"

"Okay Lara… okay."

The two didn't move or say anything as the minutes rolled by. They were just resting, and Lara reveled in feeling his uneven breathing against her as his warm hand continued gently rubbing her back. Eventually, Alex groaned as he gently tried to pull away from her, which of course only caused her to tighten her hold of him. Which just caused him to groan again.

"Ease on my ribs Lara, please." Lara's eyes went to the aforesaid area of Alex's body and reached out her hands. His immediate hiss at contact caused her eyes to narrow as she ascertained the damages. Wearily, she got up and walked slowly toward the corpse of the man that caused their current predicament and started ripping large strips of cloth from his coat.

Alex watched her carefully as she returned. Her tone brisk and business like. "Take off your shirt."

"I'm sorry what now?" Alex just blinked at her in surprise and a little embarrassed.

"Take off your shirt."

"Here Lara?" He looked and gestured around at the woods and bodies. "Not the most romantic location."

Lara felt the heat flood into her face as she glared down at the young man who was now cheekily grinning at her. "Y-y-you… blackguard! That's not what I mean!"

"Are you sure?" Alex blue eyes twinkled at her charmingly in his face as he leaned on one elbow striking a pose. "Not sure how you can resist such as beautiful specimen as myself?"

Lara just continued to glare at him as replying might just make the issue worse. And glaring helped keep the smile that wanted to creep onto her face mostly at bay. While she knew his was using self-mockery against her, Lara did wonder if Alex did not realize that in some ways he was rather sexy. Maybe the nerd, hacker and engineer did not really know. Well, two could play some of these games as Lara knelt next to him and did her best sultry smile as she murmured into Alex's ear causing him to shiver. "Not sure given your condition you could keep up…"

She watched his pupils dilate surrounded by blue. She knew they were both blushing furiously and given her competitive nature, she was hoping he was redder then she.

He hesitantly arched one brown eyebrow over his glasses as Alex roughly swallowed. "Lara are you…?"

Placing her fingers against his mouth caused him to stop talking as Lara felt the flurry of emotions run through her. The urge to just kiss him and finally have it over with and the realization that they were _no where near_ the right place relationally for such an action warred inside her.

Pragmatism won. Much to her disappointment.

"I need to bind up your ribs Alex; I think you have a broken one." She looked down at her fingers on his mouth with a bittersweet feeling. "So, take off your shirt and hold still."

Mutely he nodded and hissing in pain he slowly pealed the long sleeve shirt over his head. Lara could feel the blush blooming on her face again as she greedily ogled the young man in front of her shamelessly. The fun ended abruptly as she stared at the long bluish purple bruise, which ran across his lower ribcage in an ugly line. Sure she noticed things that she would remember later that night, but the long angry mark should the problem was quite serious. Bleeding internal was a definite and already that was true about Alex. Any hope for him to be a climber for the rest of the trip was gone. Really really gone. The thought unbidden came to her that _'I'm now weighed down with at least seventy-seven kilos. A good-looking seventy-seven kilos but still… '_

There was nothing she could do! That was what was so shaggily frustrating for Lara. No matter what she tried to do to help Alex it wouldn't do a thing for broken ribs. And just barely touching his bruises elicited a deep hiss from his lips. All she could do was bind them up and tell him to power through the pain. So know they would be fighting for their lives while Alex was having a painful time trying to do _anything_ , fighting or even surviving would push him to his limits. If they were back in London it would still be a serious problem, but here on Yamatai? Lara could feel the situation as a death sentence hanging over Alex's head.

"Don't fret Lara," His tight smile stark contrast to his grim tone. "we always knew I wasn't going to make it."

"Who the Hell is we?!" Lara snapped back angrily.

Wearily, Alex gave her a frank glare over his glasses. "Us Lara, you and me." His glare softened as he gave her a small grin with a shrug. "and myself and I as well."

Despite herself Lara felt a grin trying to match his. "They don't count Alex."

"Oh Lara, don't hurt their feelings." His blue eyes wild as he stared scared at her. "They are _very_ delicate individuals…"

Birds took off above as they squawked their indignation as Lara's laughter rang out through the woods. She kept laughing as she leaned against Alex's chest and just continued. He held her shoulders lightly with a caution part of Lara loathed. She wanted the warmth that he once gave so freely until she suddenly realized she was nuzzling into Alex's chest. Alex's _bare_ chest. She could feel every labored breathe Alex took and she noticed in the back of her mind they were shallow breathes. However, she also could feel a tremor along with his steady heartbeat that she always found somehow comforting. The idea that a heart, which was just a stupid muscle moving at impulses sent from the brain would somehow comfort her was ridiculous. Yet it _was_ comforting. Somehow deep insider her with her forehead resting against his chest she felt a peace that was… abnormal? At least to her for… the last decade? Had it really been that long? Since she had felt a peace like this? It was more than relaxation it was acceptance and a calm that comes from knowing one doesn't have to be on guard. _'Which only proves that I am mentally unstable… especially given Alex's and my argument.'_

"Umm Lara," Alex's voice snapped her out of her reverie like a thunderclap. "while I adore cuddies, I'm kinda cold and well… your hair tickles."

This of course made Lara more embarrassed as she leaned away from Alex, yet, an impish part of her wanted to dance her ponytail over him to see just how ticklish he was. With what she was confident was admirable self-control she resisted and helped him slowly and painfully put his shirt back on. Alex, given the sudden awkwardness in the air between them chuckled. "Must be the first time a guy has asked to get dressed when with you."

Lara blinked dumbly at him, which caused him to blush and gesture at all of her. "What I mean is most guys probably want to take their clothes off instead. I mean look at ya."

Face as scarlet as a tomato Lara started stammering as her brown eyes danced anywhere but to Alex's. "W-w-well, uh well, um, I wouldn't know." She stated. "I've never actually, you know, like had a boyfriend before."

The silence was deafening to Lara as she kept her eyes down and was studying Alex's shoes. _'It is remarkable how mud clings to shoes in such patterns.'_

' _You're being a damn coward Lara!'_ her psyche spat out harshly almost out of nowhere. _'At least look the man in the eye.'_

Lara, completely chastened, risked a glance through her eyelashes at her companion. He was standing straight, with his bandaged left had holding his damaged ribs. His face was a mix of shock and utter bafflement. His sharp eyes no longer dulled as the pain had been chased away by the surprise of her statement.

"You're not messing with me are you?" Alex's voice was a flat deadpan monotone.

Lara slightly shook her head, "No, just never really been interested in anyone." _'That's a bold faced lie Lara and you know it!'_ Her psyche replied forcefully.

' _Well, I was never interested enough to act on it with anyone. So… its mostly true.'_

' _That's what lies are, partial truths with twists meant to deceive someone about something other than what they would normally think!'_

' _When have you had the time to consider this so much?'_

' _What do you think I've been doing this whole time?'_

' _Hopefully, dying.'_

' _Now that's just rude!'_ the sulking indignant reply came back. _'You don't want me dead, I am you remember?'_

"Then those guys are idiots." Alex's awed voice broke through her internal argument.

Lara gave him a brief smile in response. It was a little bitter that now she had found someone, he wasn't interested in her.

"What about you?" Lara hesitated despite herself.

"I'm not interested in guys, Lara." Alex chuckled as he got up motioning toward the direction they needed to go. "Thought I had made that pretty clear so far."

Smirking Lara stepped up to walk beside him. "Not sure, Alex. You and Jonah are pretty cozy. You might break his heart if you're not careful."

Alex's smile warmed her as they started moving slowly amongst the trees. They had been walking just a few minutes before his smile vanished and a serious look came to his sapphire eyes. Reaching he gently took Lara's hand and the emotions dancing on his countenance caused her heart to do its damnable complicated dance inside her.

"Lara, there are things we have to work through and it will take time. I think that I like you quite a bit however, I am not sure who you are and I need time to process that. And time for you to process yourself and the situations we are in. Maybe if we get out of this…"

" _ **When**_ we get out of this Alex, when…" Lara couldn't help interrupting. Her brown eyes sparkling in her face.

Looking away Alex swallowed roughly, before curtly nodding. "Sure, when we get out of this. We might not feel the same way as we do. Surviving can do crazy things to people especially in the moment and that is what I am trying to give you." Lara felt him squeeze her hand briefly before letting go.

"Why are we talking about this Alex?" Lara whispered to him. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?"

Icy blue met warm brown eyes as Alex at last spoke. For minutes that felt like an eternity ticked by. "The reason I am telling this to you Lara is that I am trying. I want you to know that. I am trying to understand and get and let go the things I have seen. I want to believe you are amazing, and someone I would want to be with… I am just not sure now. So," He smiled with a wistful expression on his face. "go easy on me? Give me some time?"

Heart pounding inside of her, Lara beamed up at Alex. "I'll give you all the time I have. As long as you are contemplating, we _could_ work. You will have all the time I can give you."

"Good! Good!" Alex smiled as he gestured toward an old building straight ahead of them. The concrete ruin was covered with moss and ivy runners. "I am pretty sure that is the Radio Station Call Center. We are almost there."

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading. -Jack**_


	15. Chapter 12: Comforter?

_**Dear Readers,**_

 _ **I was hoping to get this chapter out earlier and again I was struck by the same problem as before. Start writing and 1k turns much higher and then I got a scene stuck in my mind. I couldn't let it go and so the plot has not continued as much as I promised last time… I am so disappointed in myself and I hope y'all can forgive me.**_

 _ **With that stated. I wanted to ask if y'all want a Thanksgiving flashback? If so, I will get on it really soon and try to have it ready by Thanksgiving Night. I opened the possibility for that, but if y'all just want a chronological story I will forgo uploading the chapter.**_

 _ **Let me know what y'all think and on to my favorite part… REVIEW REPLIES!**_

 _ **RedHood001: I am so glad you like the chapter! And that a chapter update was that much of an excitement to you. That is generally how I feel when I read that y'all have written a review. I am working on the characterization and I want to flush the characters even more out and not just Alex and Lara. As you will see in this chapter, I try to flush out someone else. Just a bit. Please keep reading and letting me know how to improve, what you enjoy and just being your awesome self.**_

 _ **I hope y'all enjoy and for liability reasons…**_

 _ **I DO NOT OWN TOMB RAIDER IP… only my own characters that are figments of my own imagination.**_

* * *

Chapter 12: Comforter?

Two hours had past and according to Alex's beautiful watch; it was just past 1015. They had finally entered the complex and while they had to fight a couple of people, Lara had to do the fighting. Alex, given his current rib situation, was having trouble even walking and constantly was pressing his hand against his side. The building was depressing to look at, old crumbling concrete, dust everywhere and even worse was the spiders. Lara knew given her archeological nature she would encounter the evil creatures but still didn't make her feel okay with the arachnids crawling over her as she and Alex wandered through giant webs. There was nothing… nothing…. Worse than spiders.

Now, they were the in labyrinth trying to find where the Radio Station control was located. They were doggedly continuing through the building and eliminating all possible enemies as quietly as possible. They felt like they were getting close to their destination or at least so they thought, they just really didn't know where they were going… which was frustrating.

 _Pop, pop, pop!_ Lara glanced with a grin at Alex, as the young man let out a satisfied sigh as he straightened his head. He gave her a brilliant smile as his blue eyes sparkled happily, as he stated with feeling. "Thank God for endorphins!"

She could feel the therapeutic laughter bubbling out. She shook her head at him and turned back toward the problem in front of them. Alex had been doing that lately of the last two hours. Slightly funny jokes, mild morbid humor and a semi carefree behavior. It was… calming. They were not putting pressure on themselves and just enjoying each other. They were working on surviving, and yes they were constantly fighting and life could end at any moment for them. Yet, Alex was there and she didn't feel as lost as before. Still yet, she also was getting confident that there were things she could do to help and advice she could give as well. They were truly partners, just not in the way Lara particularly wanted. But maybe… just maybe that would one day come.

"So it looks like we are stuck again." Lara's eyes followed his gesture toward the blocked path ahead of them. The old cement walls were cracked and scarred. And they could see what looked like a ventilation control room that was separated from the others by thick glass with steel crosscut patterns. The annoyance was that the door leading into that room was… well… stuck. Lara could see a small conduit that she could climb through and hopefully that would get her into that room. However… it was too high up for her to reach.

"Should we turn around and go back?" Alex voice drifted to her as she approached underneath the shaft. "Or not."

"Can you give me a boost?" Lara grinned at Alex ignoring his words as he rolled his eyes at her. In the dim light, they took on a more oceanic murkiness to them which Lara was _not_ going to focus on right now. _'Not going to focus on them, not going to focus on them, not going to focus… dammit! I'm focusing on them!'_

Alex positioned himself under the grate next to her and drawled a mocking, "Can I give you a boost? Depends on how much you've been eating."

Spinning on him with her hands on her hips, Lara leveled him a fierce glare. "Alex Weiss! Are you calling me fat?!"

Brown eyebrows arched over the blood-splattered spectacles as those blue eyes, _which she was_ _ **not**_ _thinking about_ , leveled frank analysis from her face to her mud encrusted boots and back again. Lara could feel the damn butterflies dancing in her stomach at the expression on his face before a smirk danced across his lips. "Not _fat_ Lara…" his blue eyes sparkling. "Obese!"

Her jaw fell so fast she could swear Roth could hear it popping from miles away. "Obese?! OBESE!" Her shriek rang off the old decrepit concrete walls around them. Involuntarily her right had rose and starting poking his chest for emphasis. "I am **not** obese!"

Chuckling, Alex tried to capture her hand but she darted it away expertly. She knew that her brown eyes must be glowing because Alex's smirk turned into a really large smile. Not being able to get her hand, he settled on the next best thing. Lara squawked as Alex grabbed her in a bear hug from which despite her squirming she couldn't extract herself from. _'Not that I really want to but… he called me OBESE!'_

Content that she wasn't going to try and get away Alex just kept laughing into her hair as Lara fumed good naturally against his chest. _'I guess I can take obesity comments_ _ **if**_ _I get cuddle time attached with it.'_ In addition, Lara knew she was _not_ fat in the least. Given all the mountains that she climbed and maintaining her body with a healthy regiment of exercise and diet.

"You sir, are in trouble." Arching her neck backward to look into the laughing sapphire eyes staring down at her. She realized just how close they were as her mouth got dry like a desert and the need to lick her lips seemed almost unstoppable. Inhaling his essence, Lara could feel herself getting dizzy but not unpleasant at all. Her eyes drank in his face. The slope of his nose, the sparkle of sunlight of the grizzle of his unshaved jawline as the sun sneaked through the broken ceiling. The messy brown hair that she wanted to run her hands through, of course just to determine if it could be messier… the dark swirling blue eyes that seemed to reach her soul and like a gentle warm breeze calm her troubled spirit. Those eyes danced across her own face and to her mind was mapping her features just as she was doing to his own. The longing to lean in and kiss those lips was almost unbearable and she could feel herself gathering up the courage as she starting raising herself onto her toes. She made one stupid blunder though. As she went on her toes her hands pressed onto his ribs. Alex's hiss of pain snapped any romantic ideas her mind was contemplating as he loosed his hold instantly causing her to shiver as a chill descended on her from the lack of his warmth.

"Alex, are you…" her voice was dry and almost rasped with how low it sounded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Equally hoarse, Alex brushed off her concern quickly. He cleared his throat painfully and still the tone was low and husky. "So, back to more pressing things, how do I get out of trouble?"

Laughing Lara rested her forehead against his sternum, "For my forgiveness and pardon? Years of slavery."

She felt Alex's hands warmly rubbing her back over her tank top. "Slavery huh? We fought a five-year bloody war to solve that form of currency. And if my memory serves me right, the English just bought all the slaves to get rid of the slave trade."

Leaning back out of his arms reluctantly, but necessary to stop herself from flinging herself at him. Lara brushed her rebellious hair behind her ear. "Correct. We English didn't need to fight a war over what we knew was wrong."

"No, just needed to bribe people." Alex's eyes sparkled.

Lara shrugged her slender shoulders as she frankly pointed out. "Better than killing people."

"Fair enough." He conceded nodding his head. "So, about this boost. What's the plan?"

"Oh no no no!" Lara waved her finger in his face. "First, you need to tell me where the obesity comment came from."

Throwing back his head, Alex let out a laugh. Then seeing her finely arched eyebrow confirmed the seriousness of the moment. "Fine, fine." Alex waved his right hand. "remember when we had Thanksgiving at Nine Bells?"

"Thanksgiving?" Lara started racking her mind to remember. That had been a while ago, almost seven months and she had really only known Alex a few before that event. "You mean that time you took over my bar?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alex stepping away from her. " _Took_ _over?_ We didn't take over, we were _invited_."

Scoffing, Lara crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Like I would invite a bunch of uncultured Americans and crazy English to celebrate a dumb American tradition." Lara watched as Alex's jaw just kept getting lower and lower. _'This is really too much fun.'_

Alex straightened to his full height causing Lara to have to tilt her head back to look at him. _'Damn, he's tall.'_ His voice was teasing. "I remember clearly we were invited by _your_ roommate and best friend forever Sam, who wanted us to celebrate and expand y'all's cultural ignorance."

…Shots had now been fired…

"Cultural ignorance!" Lara's indignant shriek rang throughout the room. "We are SO much more cultural understanding then you will ever be Mr. Alexander Weiss."

"Well, for all your being oh so culturally savvy, it's _Alexandre_ not _Alexander_." He smirked at her happily. _'I'm not sure if I want to slap or kiss away that smirk… oh get a grip Lara!'_ He had continued completely unaware of her current internal strife. "Just for the furtherance of your _education_. Thanksgiving is the remembrance vacation day where Americans recall when the refugees from England escaping a tyrannical regime survived the brutal winter with the help of the Wampanoag Natives grew crops and the feast they threw was because of how thankful they were to God and their neighbors for them being alive."

Lara waved her hand and tried to seem unimpressed with Alex's variation of knowledgeable subjects. She had heard him explain this all before in greater detail during that eventful evening. While, she griped about the inconvenience of it all, it had been a fun evening. "Whatever, it is meaningless to us. And we were glad to get rid of those pesky religious fanatics anyway."

Alex snorted and then was silent. His blue eyes clouding in concentration. "What did you mean by _your_ bar?"

' _Shit!'_ Lara could feel the panic and her eyes widening. _'I didn't mean that to slip out.'_

"Do you own The Nine Bells?"

Lara trying to appear nonchalant and knowing she was failing miserably. "I meant that as in, I the bartender. When I'm in charge of the bar it's my place."

"Right…" Alex drawled and then shrugged.

Lara butted in though before he could ask more questions about Nine Bells. "Still doesn't explain the obesity charge?"

Rolling his baby blues, Alex groaned. "It was one comment… but fine, it was the joke of the group. For being someone so mocking about our holiday you were the one who ate the most."

"What?! No way!"

"Oh yeah, you had way more than us. You scarfed that food down."

Lara could feel her cheeks burning from the blush and embarrassment. "I hadn't had lunch…"

"With the rate you were devouring, you hadn't had lunch in a year." Alex drying interrupted causing Lara to smack him on the shoulder with the back of her hand.

"Ridiculous!" She was relieved they were both grinning idiotically at each other. "Anyway, if you hadn't made the food so good, I wouldn't have eaten that much."

"Oh my! So it's my fault you pigged out?" Alex's incredulous face causing Lara to laugh freely.

"Why yes! I wouldn't have eaten the right amount that I did, which was _not_ pigging out. Ladies do not _pig out._ "

"Ladies?" disbelief oozed from every one of Alex's pours.

"You rogue!" Lara mock affronted appearance making it hard for both to maintain the seriousness of their arguments. "Of course, I'm a lady."

Slowly and solemnly, Alex gave her a bow. "Well then my Lady Croft, Let me give you a boost to your perch up yonder."

Shaking her head as she laughed Lara but her boot in Alex's outstretched hands and vaulted up to the shaft. She barely managed to maintain her hold as she heard Alex swearing profusely below her.

"Damn! Tesla's Coils! Bloody Ohm's Resistances!" Lara peered down from the shaft as Alex was resting on his knees as sweat rolled in rivets down his face. He was holding both hands to his side where his broken ribs were.

' _Crap! Forgot about those.'_ Lara decided the better action was to continue with the plan and let Alex come down from his intense pain on his own.

She lowered herself into the dividing room and looked around at the myriad of controls, switches, dials and paraphilia. None of it made any sense to her and she was perplexed. It was as though this was a natural gas flow control area from back in the Forties and Fifties.

Her concentration was shattered when a man ran in from the other side of her. Panic raised in her throat as the man leveled a machine gun at her and let loose a torrent of bullets. Instinctively, she dropped behind some controls and machinery. Her expectation of the glass shattering under the hail of bullets never came. Quickly addressing the situation and ignoring Alex's frantic calling out if she was okay; she realized the glass was old fashioned bullet proof. She reached that same conclusion at the same time as Alex and their enemy who dropped the machine gun and started hammering the glass with a climbing pick.

Lara realized there was nothing she could do but climb out, but that left them in the same predicament except also with the additional problem that they were now discovered. Turning to get out the vent she slipped and collided with a control wheel. The instant hiss caused her to pause as an idea unbidden rose into her mind. Gas, flame, explosion… That could work.

The man was screaming something at her as he kept hammering away causing a long spider web of cracks to start forming. As Lara wasted no time whatsoever as she broke the pipe allowing the noxious gas to fill the room. The man starting cackling at her as she choked on the fumes as she desperately tried to get back to the vent. Slowly, as her lungs ached she crawled out and fell to the ground.

Immediately, Alex's arms encircled her and started pulling her away. Coughing she pushed him away as she grabbed his lighter and torch. His eyes widened in horror at her plan but couldn't stop her.

Their enemy must not have gotten the memo and was a slow learner, as he never expected Lara to throw the torch through the vent into the gas-filled room.

Lara felt the sharp pain on her shoulder blades as Alex grab her and threw her to the ground as he covered her smaller body with his as the intense explosion rocked the ancient building causing cement dust to fall around them. She heard Alex's hiss of pain and felt the rush of heat as the gas ignited.

She could hear the screams of the man, as he must have been caught unprepared in the fiery blast. Slowly, Alex rolled off her with a deep groan and Lara could only gasp at the damage around them.

Both internal walls of the control room were blasted open allowing them a 'clear' path to the other side. However, debris littered everywhere and she could hear man alternating from groaning to blood curdling screaming on the other side. He was trapped under a pile of rubble and Lara could tell as he approached that it was over for him. Blood was everywhere and his left leg was nothing except a burning hunk of flesh. As she and Alex stood over him, she could see the agony in the murderer's face. He was in his mid-thirties tops. Green eyes frantically rolling around in his suffering as he mutter incomprehensible words. Pulling out her climbing pick, the man starting begging for his life. She could feel her heart aching as the man over and over and over again begged, pleaded stating he didn't want to die. That he could be saved, that he could live.

It was all denial though, and everyone but the man knew it.

Alex gently took her hand and motioned her toward the exit. "You go ahead Lara." She could hear the weight in his words and though she wanted to fight it, that she was strong enough to do this. That it was okay, since this man had tried to kill them. That he was not even human. Lara could see in Alex's eyes a deep sadness she couldn't fight against. Not again, not ever again. "Go ahead and scout out, I'll… help him."

Without a word, Lara turned and walked through the door however, once through she couldn't keep going. She couldn't just leave Alex. Therefore, she stayed, on the other side of the wall and listened.

"Man, I'm sorry man." The dying enemy sobbed brokenly. "Please help me. I don't wanna die. I'm too young, not seen enough of life. I don't wanna die."

The tenderness in Alex's voice confounded Lara. "What's your name?"

"Zandar," The man's tone was as though he was lost in a foggy mist searching for some detail long forgotten but dearly missed. "Zandar Brandt, midshipman on a freighter… headed… heading for Japan."

Alex's soft words started tears to fall from Lara's eyes. "Zandar, I'm not sure I can help you."

"You've got to help me!" Zandar's broken desperate cry. "You've got to! I don't want to die. Please! Please don't let me die!"

"Zandar, where are you from? Where was home for you?"

"Germany… but… but I've been living in Canada for the last… last twenty years." His gasps came brokenly as his voice filled with tears.

"Got anyone waiting for you there? Sweetheart? Mother?"

"My wife… she lives still in Q-Q-Quebec City. Mutter and Vater too."

There was a long pause only broken by the sounds of the sobbing, dying Zandar. Lara couldn't help her own tears as she tried to control her breathing and heart. _'This was the enemy. I shouldn't be feeling this grief and sympathy for them. But I do. Zandar's a man that just doesn't want to die.'_

"Don't tell them. Don't you tell them!"

"Don't tell them what Zandar?"

"That this is what… what I became." He appealed brokenly. "Don't let them know what I am, what I became. I just wanted to… to see them again. I just wanted to _**see**_ them again. I don't want them ashamed of me. Anything but that. "

Listening intently, Lara made out the sob in Alex's voice. "I won't tell them Zandar, I swear on my Father's grave I won't tell them."

"Thank you… thank you." Sighing Zandar voice died away. A fatalistic note could be heard as he continued slowly. "There's nothing you can do is there? I'm dying and there's nothing anyone can do."

… the painful pause lingered before Alex agreed with him. Zandar was silent as he weighed his own mortality in his mind. _'It must be a scary realization. To realize that one is on the cusp of ending this life's existence. The unknown awaits. And there is nothing we have heard from those that have died before. Zandar must be considering such things about now.'_

"I've got no right to ask this of you… but…"

Lara could make out the rest of the words as she could barely hear the frantic whispers and the hum of Alex's reply.

Finally, after at least five minutes Lara heard Zandar state loud enough for her to hear. "Swear it… please… swear it on your father."

The pause was almost haunting as he repeated over and over again. "Please!"

The soft words finally answered the plea, Alex's tone stating what his words would never state. "I swear."

"Good, good. Thank you." Zandar's voice cracked but resolutely plodded on. "Then, I guess I am ready to sleep now… take the gun, may it serve you better than it did me."

Silence reigned, as minutes passed. Lara could barely make out some noise, almost the sound of scuffling. Finally, she heard Alex start to cry. Deep sobbing breaths as she heard him weep. _'There is something to a man weeping.'_ Lara thought to herself. _'I never have seen Roth and I certainly never saw my Father weep.'_ The sound touched her in a peculiar way, her heart seemed to understand that something awful had happened and the sound was causing it to ache inside of her painfully. ' _The sorrow, the loss? That didn't make sense though, how could the life of one of their enemies be a loss? Should they have gained something? An advantage perhaps?'_

Lara lost track of the time as she pondered this new dilemma. Which caused her not to notice Alex coming through the door. Shooting to her feet as she felt horribly guilt for spying on him she took his glassy blue eyes into account. Her heart jumped again, it seemed to jump more than beat it would seem, as she saw the blood covering Alex's left side of his face in long angry red streaks.

"Alex what happened?"

"It's not my blood. So don't worry." He sounded so defeated and tired that the tears again threatened Lara's eyes. "I don't want to talk about it, can we just keep going? Please?"

It was the 'please' that finally undid everything insider her. Sobbing, Lara through her arms around Alex and wept into his neck. Almost instinctively, she felt his arms come around her and hold her. His hands soothingly rubbing those damn patterns along her back that shouldn't have caused her to feel loved and comforted but certainly did. For it was the comfort that was him… it made sense, by some miracle, some divine blessing or just natural upbringing Alex was the only source of comfort and care left to her. Her mother? Gone. Her father? Gone. Sam? Gone. Roth? Gone. Only Alex remained. Here in this moment, she just wanted his comfort. He would give it to a sadistic enemy, a brutal murderer, an efficient torturer, and a dying man. Surely, he could give the same comfort to her… a broken orphan girl.

* * *

 _ **Thank you all for reading! I hope for my American readers that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And for the rest of y'all a great weekend.**_

 _ **Please Read and Review!**_

 _ **-Jack**_


	16. Chapter 13: An Unlucky Situation

_**It's a me! Jack! Lara is back with another chapter to the adventure…. I must say this adventure is turning out to be MUCH longer than I expected when I set out. I hope you guys don't mind to much that it is taking SO LONG to get anywhere in this story. If it is annoy, I deeply apologize. Some of this just feels like it needs to be more flushed out and some of the story just seems to write itself… or I am a terrible procrastinator… which could be true too.**_

 _ **Anyway to my Favorite Part: REVIEW REPLIES!**_

 _ **NoirValor: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, the chapter was a much slower some might even say plodding take on the story. I like making more fun pieces, they cause me to smile and enjoy, yet this is a dark tale so trying to balance it is really hard on me. They are fighting to live… sometimes I'm not sure how the game got Lara out alive, (SPOILERS sorry…) let alone how I'm going to get her out of this all alive… :(**_

 _ **RedHood001: I know right! I was so happy about that! Too much fluff is not health… cotton candy is the perfect example of that. I really, really, really, don't want Lara to become this murdering machine with no conscience. So I'm truly glad that is coming across to you as the reader. I like the ideas that you mentioned especially with Roth. I want to add a few sections from other perspectives definitely. I'm just in the damned problem of having written 8k words by hand and when I transpose it to my laptop it becomes… SO LONG! Ugh… Anyway, stick with it. Thanks for writing reviews. I can't tell you how much joy it brings.**_

 _ **Once again I must say that I don't own Tomb Raider.**_

 _ **I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think. Read and review and all that Jazz!**_

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Chapter 13: An Unlucky Situation

Now they had arrived, bruised battered yet victorious into the broadcasting center… only for their hopes to be dashed like the Endurance on the shore. Lara had just sat down and cried, it was so unfair. All their effort, sacrifice and pain for nothing. The station was filled with ruined pieces of equipment that wouldn't have worked twenty years ago let alone now. The rusted metal almost seemed to mock her in her despair as the leaves rustled as Alex slowly, almost in disbelief walked from one terminal to another. The shock in his eyes and quick breathing telling her she was not alone in feeling betrayal from the pieces of metal and wire around them. The realization that they wouldn't be able to send the S.O.S for help caused a wave of hopeless to roll over her as she sat there on the dry leaves as the world blurred around her. It wasn't that she was crying she just stopped focusing on anything. She dimly heard Alex groan as she felt him sit down slowly next to her.

"Damn." His quiet voice sounded strange as the curse just filled the sinister silence that oppressively hung over them all.

"Damn." Lara swore just as gently in agreement. They sat there together looking around and observing the ruin around them. Fatalistically, Lara knew this was a big problem for them. One they would not be able to determine a solution too, and Lara understood the gravitas of it all. Roth and the others were counting on her; she _had_ to find an answer before more of her friends died.

"It's all hopeless isn't it?" She stated deadly after the silence was too much for her.

"Not everything…" Alex slowly and softly spoke. "they say while there is life there is hope."

While she was normally eager for comfort and distraction from Alex, she was extremely not in the mood. She leveled a glare at him, but the nerd just couldn't take the hint.

"Hey Lara, we've maybe got a chance to jury-rig something with that generator we passed." His voice held the tiniest sliver of optimism that one could possibly possess, yet those words had the extremely unwanted consequence of adding to her dark feeling about herself. She glowered in on herself as she sighed heavily.

"The one I blew up?"

Silence reigned supreme between them as Alex let out a little "Oh."

That little noise was hard for Lara. Part of her just hated everything that was going on in her life, well except one thing, but she was morosely confident that even that _thing_ would be lost too. The deck was stacked so greatly against them.

"It was necessary." As soon as the words left her mouth, Lara instantly regretted them. She felt her body tense as memories flooded through her. She was afraid she was always going to be reminded by those damn words. The last thing she wanted was to remember that argument they had. She stole a quick glance at Alex to see if there was a reaction from him and his face had a soft and sad, yet with none of the vitriol he had showed that night by the cliff side. Against her cold shoulder she felt his warmth seep from his hand.

"I didn't said it wasn't, Lara. I just forgot is all." The squeeze he gave her before withdrawing his hand from her was all she needed to know that while they had both just returned to the cliff in their minds it wasn't going to impact this current moment. Still she couldn't look at him because she dreaded to see her own defeat mirrored in his blood streaked face.

' _He still hasn't told me about what happened with Zandar or what he swore on. Its concerning that something like that is burdened on him. He's taken so many of my burdens I wish we could have a mutual agreement about doing that for each other. '_

"So what do we do now Lara?"

"I'm unsure, the equipment is ruined." She looked over and saw that Alex was distracted by something next to her. Finally reaching up he tucked that damned strands of hair back behind her ear. If Lara wasn't so defeated she would have felt flustered, but all she felt was a dull ache of what could have been. Lara stared and felt ultimate discouragement as she observed her despair mirrored in his eyes.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." There it was, the ugly truth that was there between them. What Lara would give to have it not be the case. Even though the words were spoken with a softness, Lara felt the dull ache become an open wound. _'Alex would be safe in London, with Aliyah and not here stuck on Yamatai dying with me._ ' She shot a quick glance at his face through her rebellious uncontrollable bangs and the gleam in his sapphire eyes gave her pause.

"I would be dead LC." His hand again tucking the strands again behind her ear with such a gentle tenderness in his voice and motion that she quickly inhaled. _'Maybe he doesn't hate us.'_ Her psyche spoke in the stillness of her mind. Yet, Alex was not done. "I'm only alive because of you." His words solemn and resolute continued. "I've got a plan, and I'm sure you are not going to like it at all."

Closing her eyes as she gave her heart and mind the time to come to grips with the words that had just been uttered and acknowledge them in her soul as truth. She wanted to lock this memory away that Alex did not blame her. Sure, he had said it before. However, she needed to believe it and trust with all the confidence she had in him that he was not lying to her now. There was a peace and a calm that came against the deep desire she had in hating herself for doing this all to him. Yes, it was good. Very good to hold on to the truth and keep it as the truth no matter if it was light or dark. It had the benefit of being the truth and she loved it and him. _'There are you happy now?! I love him. I wish that he wasn't here because he should be save and loved by someone not broken like me!'_

' _Is that what you really want though?'_ Her psyche for the first time since she could remember was gentle and kind. _Do you really wish he wasn't here to be with you?'_

' _Yes, no, yes. Agh!'_ Lara was frustrating herself over the contradictions running through her mind. _'No, because with him here I am more complete than I have ever felt since my Dad died.'_

' _I know.'_

' _But, yes because I love him and I don't want him hurt anymore then he already is. I want him to be save and not here with me in this ruin.'_

' _But is that love?'_

The thought dangled there before her, she knew Alex was talking about this plan, which she knew they needed one. Yet, the conversation in her own mind was one of much greater significance to her. It was the deciding factor of her future. Should they survive, this was what she faced in that glorious future. One where a little boy ran around the old garden mazes with his sister watching over him as she herself had done so many years ago in a happier time. The old house alive with laughter and friends causing her to return to a place she had long tried to forget and hide from since that was where so much hurt and loneliness rested.

But… they could change that! They could make the hurt and pain lessen, it would never truly go away but they would be able to build on the loss and sorrow and replace with new memories of life, joy and happiness.

But… that was a distant future and they knew that those futures might never be. Wishing never did anything except make people distraught because what they wished for never happened. There was no fairy godmother and she was not Cinderella. _'Thank God!'_ Lara thought to herself, _'I couldn't sleep at night if I was her with her little mice running around underfoot and thinking that they were talking with her.'_ It was a good story for children to behave and that cheating never pays good rewards.

Reality was a bitch though and walked all over her precious dreams. It had been a bitch when her mother died, a bitch when her father killed himself and a bitch now that she was going to die, with something better than memories to keep living for, it was going to stay a real bitch… _'That's why they call it reality.'_

Still, though Alex was droning on about his plan. Closing her eyes Lara just waited… there wasn't any plans that she liked right now. Of course, though she knew they needed a plan. The problem was she had at some point when looking at all the broken equipment with its promise of broken dreams or hopes; she had become resigned to her fate. Which in itself was a terrifying dilemma to find herself. She was tired, and despite the brief sleep on the cliff side she hadn't really slept in… _'sixty hours? Could that possibly be right?_ _Has it really only be sixty hours since the Endurance ran aground and tore itself in half? Only sixty hours…'_

"So what do you think?" The question jarred her from her tired depression and mental fog. Sixty hours of Hell had really messed with her psyche. Mind scrabbling to remember with absolutely no success. Lara realized that there really was no point in pretending; still, she had an image to maintain.

"Sure, Alex, whatever you say."

She jerked as Alex's laughter belted out of him only for him to then grab his damaged ribs. His laughter continued in a more wheezing fashion. Just as he would start calming down then he would glance at her sour glare and start his wheezing laugh again.

Finally, he stopped and taking off his glasses wiped the tears from his eyes as Lara's own kept throwing daggers in his direction. "I knew it! You weren't listening in the slightest!"

Huffing in embarrassment, Lara groused. "Whatever." She knew though that under normal situations, she would have just laughed it off with him but… those dark thoughts still hovered over her like ominous clouds. "What is your plan?"

Alex must have sensed some of her dark considerations because he reined in his humor so only his eyes still glinted. Curtly he nodded as his tight grim smile stayed on his face. "I was saying, we should each sacrifice a limb to the goddess and mighty sorceress Himiko for safety and success! I volunteer my left arm, since it's damaged anyway."

Two pairs of eyes met and Lara could not, for all the dark thoughts and evil omens in the world, have stopped her giggle from escaping her lips as those twinkling sapphire eyes danced with mischief. "That won't work at all!" She shook her head feeling her ponytail dance behind her. "And here I thought you had a real plan!"

"A real plan?" If they were not complete covered in blood, gore and filth Lara would have laughed loudly at his incredulously innocent face.

"Yes!" Lara grinned at him. "I'm not giving up any of my body parts to a dead memory of a woman."

He tilted his head in consideration for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly and nodding in a sage like manner. "Fair enough, I can't contemplate a body part of yours that would be okay for you to sacrifice anyway."

"Whatever, you crazy American." Lara sagged back down next to the nerd. "What are we going to do now?" From her peripheral vision she saw Alex's eyes narrowed as he furiously glared at the equipment around them. The long pause did wonders for Lara though, as she stopped and thought. A moment was good to breathe and take the time to be grateful that even though they were in a rough situation they were at least very much alive. Which could not be said for the people they had left behind in the dark corners of the building on the way here. Six more dead bodies, six more souls that would never escape the dreaded island with its evil whispers and dark memories. Yet, Lara felt more… at peace than in that village a day ago and she knew that she could lay most of the credit on the young man next to her. It was slightly concerning how much influence he had on her delicate psyche currently… shoot! Who was she kidding? Probably for the rest of her life if he would let that happen.

"Nothing has changed…" her obsession's voice broke in on her as her gaze returned to the young man. He had his chin resting on in his hand pondering. He gave her a sideways glance briefly before waving with his left hand at the tower they could see above them through the ruined concrete ceiling. "We need to send an S.O.S. message and… to do that… we now need to climb that damn tower."

Lara frowned looking up at the red light flashing monstrosity above them. There was nothing they could do though surely… Since they didn't have the right equipment. "How so Alex? What's the point in climbing the tower?"

Wheezing a sigh, Alex gestured toward the tower's light. "The tower still has power. Given such information, we will just have to hijack that said power and reroute it so you can broadcast the S.O.S. with a modified radio."

"And we could send the S.O.S.!" Lara grinned, feeling elated.

"Exactly!" Alex's murmured.

Lara's elation soared to new heights until she realized she was the only one soaring. Reality, like the bitch she was came back. _'There is always a 'but'.'_

"What's the catch you're not telling me Alex? You don't seem very excited right now."

"You're the smarts of this group." Alex nodded slowly and then pointedly looked down and his ribs. His voice was bitter as he softly continued. "You'll have to go alone, Lara." The sapphire blues rose to hers and she promptly snapped her mouth shut. "With my ribs, I'll not be climbing again for a long while. You know it. I know it." He gestured at the dead leaves around them. "Even the **leaves** know it."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, she smiled at the man in front of her. _'Leave it to Alex to make a joke out of shed arboreal compost's knowledge to lighten the mood.'_

The problem was he was right and regardless that didn't make Lara happy about their situation. She slowly got to her feet as Alex tried as well and yet failed to follow her as he hissed to himself in pain. Steel-like resolution came over her as Lara gazed down on the brown head bent in suffering before her. She would succeed if she had to fight Hades himself and snatch this man from the long voyage to the empty bottomless pit.

"Fine! You win Alex." The twin intense pools with their dark deepness she longed to lose herself into gazed with an emotion that caused her heart to hurt with so many feelings and fluttering of thousands of butterflies taking off. "I'm… I'm not leaving though until I bind up your ribs again better."

He didn't resister her, in fact he didn't say anything as she scolded him about what he could and couldn't do while she was gone and that he would have to stay in touch with her. She knew that she was rambling and it was annoying. She was turning into one of those sappy hormonal teenagers she had never liked and never would have thought she would be personally. Yet, now on Yamatai, those girls were not so silly anymore. They understood they wanted to feel, to be fully known and loved anyway. They wanted to be loved and cherished….

…and…

She now wanted that too.

Nevertheless, she did not want just anyone; she wanted, no needed, _this_ someone. However, the only someone she wanted did not desire to be with her. In fact, he might abhor who she really was, the person who had left that village. That type of someone who any sane person would find utterly despicable. She dreaded that future awakening. Her heart wanted something that was improbable, and her heart was demanding what it felt like it was due. She hated that feeling. Because while she desperately wanted him, she realized, no, deserved that blame and rage. And yet… the heart wants what the heart wants…

"Now," she finished the final touches to the bindings. "keep in touch with me through the radio. I'll need your help and advice once I've reached the top."

Alex looked at her quizzically. "Lara, what do you think you're going to find up there? A Radio Shack?"

She blinked in surprise at him. "Uh…what?"

He groaned as he tried to rise to his feet only for her to stop him with both hands forcing him back down. "Stop it! You are supposed to rest! Dr. Crofts orders."

"Yes ma'am." His dry voice responded. "However, we need somethings before you go."

"Like what?"

"A second radio that has be modified so you can connect it easily to the tower…" He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "It's not like you can connect to it via WiFi. Its technology from the 40s."

Lara despite the blush gracing her check laughed. "Okay Nerd. What do we need?"

"I need you to go back to the last body…" Alex's eyes were serious in spite of her attempts to lighten the mood. "Grab his radio and bring it back here. I'll do the rest."

"Okay." Lara turned and jogged off quickly looking for the body of the man that unfortunately had crossed their path.

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She returned around fifteen minutes later to Alex on his knees ripping wires out of the old modules and controls in the room. He had not spent the time idle like she wanted… His radio was in his hands as he continued his conversation with what sounded like to be Grim. Seeing her, he straightened with wires dangling down to the floor.

"Lara! Good. You're back right on time."

Lara looked at all the few tools Alex had salvaged up and the workbench he was currently converting. "Yeah," she held the radio out to him. "Looks like you have been busy."

Returning to his task, he kept ripping wires and stripping them. "What can I say? No rest for the wicked."

Lara groaned as she sat down placing the radio on the 'workbench'.

It was a short matter of time with Alex muttering to himself as he took the radio and started messing with its internal components. Lara just watched a little in awe as he quickly and methodically started to splice wires together and all the while with a constant muttering commentary on the crappiness of his equipment or the impossibility of the task or the potential solution he might have discovered.

Finally, after over twenty long minutes of Lara observing him he snatched up his own radio as he called through. "Okay, Grim. Give me the emergency broadcast channel number again, over."

Lara's heart clinched in joy as she heard the graveling rough voice growl over the static of the radio. "Laddy, I still be thinkin' ya's daft and balmy to be there considerin' this line of action."

"Grim, what is the frequency?" Alex's voice took on a stern quality as the steel entered into his eyes.

The long sigh could be felt though unheard, but they both knew the grizzled captain was rolling his eyes under his bushy brows at Alex. "Frequency is 156.8 MHz."

Alex noted it and nodded briskly. "Thanks Grim, Alex over and out."

Lara stared as Alex calmly started connecting wires to the new radio and quickly the screen went blank before showing 156.8. He turned to her and held out the new handheld. Wires trailed it and Lara noticed quickly that the ends had these tiny metal hooks.

She could only smile though at the beaming face Alex presented her full of pride and satisfaction. "This should do the trick Lara. What you are going to do is place this at the radio box at the very top of the tower. Place these wires," He held up the long thin strands. "by using these hooks. Strap them to the main wires to the antenna and squeeze the hooks. That will give you the connection. And the radio is all ready set to the emergency channel. All you need to do is connect and send the S.O.S.!"

Lara just nodded as the words she wanted to say got stuck for some reason in her throat. She did not want to leave him, he was injured and vulnerable and might not be alive when she got back. "Okay." That was all she could manage.

"Very well."

"Very well." She echoed his quiet words. She moved away but her aching heart forced her back for one last good look at him.

"Lara."

"Yes."

She looked at him as he slowly walked to her. He gently took her face in his hands and the callouses rough against her checks as with such tenderness he caused her to melt into the soothing calm of his touch. She was still astounded at the effect his gentle touch had on her soul and body.

"Lara, this isn't the end. You're going to conquer this tower like the badass you are and going to get this S.O.S. out. And when you're done we will meet up at the base of the tower and be amazed with how easy you make everything look."

The wide happy grin on her face at the bubbling feeling his words caused vanished instantly as he leaned toward her to kiss so tenderly her forehead. She missed what he said as the blood pounded loudly in her scarlet ears, but she made out. "Now go get them Lara Croft."

He was the first to reluctantly pull away because there was no way in HELL Lara would be. So… she left, everything insider her telling her to forget the tower, forget Yamatai, forget being a famous explorer, forget the emotional war inside her and run… run back into those arms and give into all she wanted… _'Not today.'_

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 _ **Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Did y'all get the unlucky situation - chapter 13? I was quite happy with myself about it.**_

 _ **-Jack**_


	17. Chapter 14: Words on the Wind

_**Greetings and Salutations! Jack here, I have another chapter for y'all and I hope y'all take it as a Christmas present from me to you. Have a Merry Christmas!**_

 _ **Review Replies:**_

 _ **RedHood001: It is a big step, though honestly, I don't want to give you false hope. The fact she had 'admitted' to herself she loves him doesn't mean we are out of the troubled waters yet. I hope you enjoy this chapter like the others. Keep giving me your thoughts and keep an eye out. I'm working on a chapter for you. ;)**_

 _ **Shameless plug: If you also what a shout out, leave me a review :D**_

 _ **Loud proclamation: I do not own Tomb Raider!**_

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 _ **Chapter 14: Words in the Wind**_

Tall lush trees danced rhythmically around her as Lara moved from the ruined radio headquarters into the green wet forest. The wind, which seemed ever present on the island, kept sweeping through the trees to chill her. Lara finally realized what was so weird about the wind to her. It did not carry the smell of the sea, the fresh yet dead smell that normal sea breezes have, as the freshness of new life built on the corpses of thousands of tiny creatures. No, this wind was more like an alpine wind, icy cold, merciless that tries to suck the lifeblood out of even the most seasoned mountaineer. However, that did not make a lot of sense… they were on an oceanic island, not in the middle of the beautiful Swiss Alps. She remembered long painful trip when climbing Eiger in Switzerland, staring out at the beautiful lands as she climbed the sheer face of the mountain. The wind there had been most like this, yet, here on Yamatai it was even… colder. The cold seemed to go deeper, not content with taking the heat from her muscles and body but trying to go deeper, taking her soul.

It was all ridiculous she knew, as a woman of science and sophistication, there were no such things as sorceresses and witches. They were people that had used the power of weak minds to transform themselves in to gods and goddesses that demanded worship from puny mortals. Through the various digs and ancient sites she had visited with Roth in the years after her father's premature death, she had seen just how evil and twisted these rulers had been against their naïve subjects.

However, she also understood the desire those rulers had. To be worshiped and considered divinity. Having a legacy that would live down through thousands of years. Moreover, really, who didn't want their legacy to live down through the ages of time?

Shrugging off the worthless considerations, which were truly a drain on her limited resources, Lara stalked her way through the winds as the sunshine cast its god rays all around her in the trees. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and she enjoyed the speed and stealthy approach she could master in the trees. Roth had often likened her to a fox when in the woods. Alert, quiet and poised, she cautiously approached the base of the tower.

Thankfully, she was alone. While she would always welcome Alex's company, his stealth skills were more liken to the rhino stampeding through a field of dead dry brambles. Needless to say, with his ribs in their current condition she was confident that his wheezing breaths would be heard like a cannonade at the Queen's Birthday Celebration.

Alone though, she really wasn't. Lara crept up to boulder and watched the two men in front of her. They were both tall and solidly built men, both obviously from a European heritage. In similitude to all the others she had met they were coarse and unkempt looking. One though, had pulled his hair back in a mess of a ponytail while the other let his brown locks fall all around his face making him look similar to the blurry pictures of Sasquatch. They sat by a small fire and were obviously in the process of making themselves some lunch. The ponytail turned toward Sasquatch and the two laughed as they slowly cooked the strips of meet over the fire.

Killing them would have been easy, and part of her wanted to do it. Take them out, but Lara realized this was a great opportunity presented before her; she could eavesdrop on their conversation and see if she could glean a tactical advantage over her opponents. Nestling against the rock, she waited them out as the fragrant aroma of cooking meat reached her nostrils.

* * *

"How much longer Clarke?" Sasquatch asked in a rough baritone, motioning toward the strips. "That smell is killing me here. Been too long since we got to stop and eat something fresh that wasn't salted hog."

Ponytail, or Clarke, Lara realized, undistracted from his task of slowly rotating the spits of meat, commented in a high shrill pitch counter to his impressive physic that caused Lara to grin in spite of herself. "They're be ready when they're ready."

The hairy man grunted in annoyance, "It's total shit how long that's taking. Are you sure they aren't done now?"

"Patience… patience…" Chided Clarke chuckling at his compatriot.

"Patience be damned! I'm hungry now." Sasquatch stood and walked away a few steps from the fire and gazed out into the woods near Lara. Cautiously, Lara drew an arrow and notched it, ready to unleash death on the two men.

Clarke gestured a long bony hand as his high pitch warbled in the cold wind. "Let it rest! Think about it. Because, of Father Mathias patience we might finally have a chance of getting off this Hellhole."

This caused Lara to pause from drawing her string. She waited, heart pounding in her chest.

Father Mathias did apparently not impress Sasquatch, as he threw his beefy hands up in the air in disgust. "Father Mathias has his head up his tiny ass, if he thinks that burning that Asian chick is going do a shit of good."

Clarke seemed only get more excited though. "But what if he's right. All the Solarii can be free. We can get off this fucking island and live our lives! Doesn't that make it worth it?"

The big man leveled a stare at Clarke a long moment. "It's only worth it if it works. We've done this over forty times and gotten nothing. Think about that! What we could have done with forty girls instead of forty burned corpses."

"Fine, fine." His filthy ponytail falling over his shoulder as Clarke sat back and concerned himself with the food again. "You might be right about that, but what if this is the one. Father Mathias said she shares blood with Himiko. One of her actual descendants! Surely that will appease the Sun Queen."

"Doesn't mean shit!" Sasquatch stated harshly. "It's just how Father Mathias maintains his control of all the Solarii. Given us, all some shitting nonsense of a curse and a required sacrifice. Especially one that doesn't have any damn impact to him."

"Whatever man!" squeaked his companion. "Grubs ready, so shut your trap and eat."

The two men continued talking as Lara taking a deep breath drew her bow back again.

Sasaquash never knew what snuffed his miserable life out, and regardless of his story and journey that had brought him here, his exit was fast. Clarke let out a scream as he stared in horror at his friend; somehow, an arrow had lodged itself into the giant man's eye socket as he slowly, almost sedately, fell on his side dead.

Clarke leapt to his feet as he grabbed his long rifle and gazed around frantically into the woods along the trajectory of where the arrow must surely have come from… nothing… all he could see was the trees rhythmically swaying in the wind as the sun with its cold rays came down upon the shrubbery. His eyes widened in panic as an intense pain erupted from his back and then looked down. Protruding from his belly the steel head of an arrow was bathed in blood, his blood. He fell onto his knees as he felt the metallic taste of his lifeblood on his tongue. He couldn't feel his legs anymore but what he did feel was two small hands at his shoulder. He could make out a feminine voice, but his mind reeling in shock didn't comprehend the craziness of that reality.

"Where does Father Mathias have the girl, Clarke?"

' _How does she know my name?'_ The thought slowly plodded through his mind. _'And she's got a London brogue. I wonder who she is.'_

Blood spilled out of his mouth and ran down his chin; it felt so surreal as he answered. "M-Mathias has… has her in the Temple." His mouth was filling with blood again and he spat it out. "Up the mountain a… a ways you'll find it."

"Thank you." The quiet voice stated. "I'm sorry, rest in peace."

Clarke was lost for a second. _'Sorry for what?'_

He felt his head pulled back and he was staring up into the sunny sky. He heard as well as felt something slice across his throat. Instantly, he felt the impossibility of breathing as he gagged hard, gasping for the oxygen his body needed so desperately, his lungs aching as badly as the muscles in his stomach from the arrow. Slowly, he didn't feel really anything at all… just the cool warmth of the sun on his face. _'I've never noticed… just how beautiful the sky is.'_ Finally, the sky started to dim and all things faded away to darkness.

* * *

Lara held on for a few more minutes before gently, placing the Solarii down next to his friend. She stood there for a moment looking down at the two men. She was waiting for the feeling to come, that feeling of success and rush of victory… but it gone… all she felt was a sorrow and yet a firm anger toward Mathias connected with a firm conviction to save her best friend. She at least knew two things. One, Father Mathias was in charge. Two, Sam was still alive… Lara pondered how this information could be used to all its effectiveness. Still, she now had a new task as soon as the S.O.S. was sent off.

She needed to enter this Temple and rescue her best friend…

The crackling and popping of the fire brought her attention to the meat still sizzling over the fire. The two men weren't going to ever need it and she was hungry. Efficiently, she checked the cooked strips and removed them from the spits over the campfire. She looping her bow over her shoulder casually she picked up Clarke's long rifle. It was a Savage Model 110, lacking a scope it was solidly built walnut wood with hand carved decals running the long the woodwork. Clarke had obvious loved this weapon well as everything in Yamatai was run down and broken but this… this was pristine. She held the gun for a moment before having it join the bow behind her, it would be cumbersome, but if she needed long range this would be useful, if not her, then definitely Alex. Lara wasn't the best marksman, but giving the small bag of ammunition she looted off of Clarke's corpse she was finally read. Armed, fed and determined she continued out of the campfire as she walked to the base of the tower.

The solid construction, most likely circa 1940s, was a cast iron tower that rose over sixty meters into the sky. Thankful, Lara started her climb by heading up the stairs to the first level but then the rest would be hand of hand.

Lara reached down to her belt and fiddled with her personal radio. Brushing her bangs from her face, she quickly called into her radio. "Alex? You there?"

Silence reigned painful as Lara felt the seconds slowly tick away into minutes before the radio crackled in response. Alex's voice was quiet as though almost whispering. "Yeah, I'm here. Got company, avoid contact, over."

Lara spun toward where the radio station headquarters was. She could see the old cement building through the green foliage of the trees, but at the this distance couldn't make out anything going on. Her face frozen in the ice mask of dread. Alex was on his own. There was nothing she could do to help him from where she was and… she hated that. She had a job to do, and damn it all, she was going to do it.

Therefore, she started to climb, the wind whipped around her ripping at her hair and cloths as she slowly climbed rung over rung. The cold iron, unheated by the cool sunshine stung at her hands as she gripped on. The mists from the ocean coming to swirl around at the base as she kept going. As an experienced climber, heights really didn't bother Lara, but even she was feeling a little unease about the sturdiness of the rusted iron from the seventy years of sea breeze and salt exposure.

Suddenly the rung she was standing on gave out with a shrill squeal of tortured metal. The lightweight feeling of falling caused Lara's heart to accelerate its rapid beating as she frantically grabbed on to the ladder and prayed it would hold up. The jarring motion of her body swinging back and forth as she clung to the ladder with both hands as her feet were suspended in the air and she looked down to see the twenty meter drop that would be her death sentence should her arms rebel against her mind. Her hands so abused over the last three days were screaming at her as she pulled with all her strength; hand over hand. Her body protested against the strain as her brain and will power forced her further up the ladder until she was out of danger.

Lara stared down in horror at the hug section of ladder that had broken away below her. _'How the hell am I going to get down again?'_ The thought entered her mind as the wind kept its constant pressure around her. Nevertheless, all she could do was keep going. _'Thank god I didn't ever miss arm day. Otherwise this adventure would have been over for me.'_

The further she climbed the colder the wind seemed and its shrieking was so unnerving that if she were a lesser person she would have been convinced that the wind contained some spirit of tortured souls longing to be released from the constant torment that they experienced. Body aching from the exertion, Lara could feel her thigh painfully throbbing each rung she climbed as she finally reached the second platform.

The breeze was bring in a grey mass of fog and mist that curled in twisting ropes around the base of the tower making it hard to see the ground below her. Gulls, their sad mournful cries flew past her as Lara started to catch her breath and calm her racing nerves. Near death experiences always had that effect on people, up till now Lara felt after she had personally endured on all her crazy adventures with Roth and Grim, but she actually appreciate it now. It made her fell more… more normal. Less hardened, more vulnerable… which was funny as being vulnerable was not generally, what a survivor wanted to experience. However, Lara knew what she needed to be a survivor; she had a clear advantage over almost everyone else of the Endurance crew except maybe Roth.

Breathing deeply, Lara could feel her body recovered enough for the last leg of the journey… to the crow's nest where the hardwire hack Alex had created would have to be used. _'And hopefully it will actually work… it would be nice to have something go well for us. Everything seems to be falling apart.'_

She started again, much to her muscles anger and the wind's apparent frustration. Lara like laughing at it, because as ridiculous as it sounded, it was as if the wind got angrier and more… indignant. The final climb was slow, painfully monotonous as she kept testing each rung before trusting her full weight (Obese as she was) on the rusted metal spokes. Lara was still slightly irked with Alex's grossly unfair characterization of her current healthy ratio of body mass. In all honesty, though, she would not want him any other way.

Lara strained as she worked on making her way up the narrow metal rungs as the wind continue swirling around her. Yet, she realized she was almost there. There had been three life ending calls where should could have slipped and fallen to a grisly messy death. However, her she was. Leaning against the small iron rail and holding on to it she breathed as deeply as the cold air would let her.

Pulling out the strange contraption of a radio that had been grossly modified by Alex. She was wondering exactly how this would work. Alex had mentioned, attaching the hooks to the wires… but he had not said which hooks to which wires. Moreover, Lara, exceptional as she was at many things was not a shagging electrician.

Thumbing her personal radio on Lara cautiously whispered into the mic. "Alex?"

Besides the wind, everything was silence as she waited. Lara realized she was holding her breath and with a chuckle let it out. _'Like my breathing will make him less safe.'_ There were times Lara disliked the fact she cared so much. _'But then… there are times I am quite happy with how much I care.'_ Still, she waited, for what she would hope was a response. She was not confident that she would find out where she would be attaching the hotwire fix Alex devised but she was confident she could royally create at shit storm if she wasn't careful. Therefore, she waited. The seconds ticked into minutes as all she did was shiver as the cold icy air shimmered and swirled around her. _'I hate waiting…'_ a familiar thought she had often. _'nothing is worse than waiting for something to happen… it seems rather fatalistic and powerless to just have to wait on the universe to finally get its bloody act together and do something.'_

"Lara? You there?" She had to strain her ears by pressing the radio's speaker against her ear, but the whisper was not imagined by her wandering mind.

"Yes, Alex. Are you safe?" She murmured quietly.

"Not really, got some friends here. What's up?"

Lara looked in front of her at the radio she was supposed to hijack. "Not sure where to plug in the hotwire fix."

"Shit." Lara heard him mutter as she also could hear him moving around. _'Trying to be stealthy… like Alex could ever really be stealthy.'_ Unknowing her thoughts, he continued. "Looking at the radio, attaching the right and left cables to the opposite on the tower. You need to strip the wires and connect the hooks on the stripped wires… Shit! Shit! Shit!" The explosive reports echoed on the cold frosty air.

"Alex!" Lara yelled into the radio as she heard the gunshots faintly as she gazed down through the mist toward the radio station. Seconds crept by as Lara's quick breaths kept going. In out, in out in out. Finally, two more gunshots rang out and then silence reigned.

The harsh crackling of the radio caused her to flinch, but thankfully didn't fall off the tower rail. The familiar voice caused Lara to sigh with relief. "Hey Lara. You there?" His voice was shallow and rasped slowly causing Lara to feel her eyes narrow as she frowned into the radio. "Did you get the radio working?"

If Alex had been there, Lara knew he would flinch at the fierce glare she leveled at the radio. She fumed inside that he thought so little of her that she would be working on a damn radio while he was dying somewhere… but yet, maybe ripping him a new one wouldn't necessarily help… though she really wanted to lay into him badly.

Taking a deep breath Lara activated the radio. "No Alex, not yet. You okay?"

The pause was worrisome and Lara started stripping the wires down and connecting the hooks together with the lines instead of just waiting for the response. Finally, the voice she was waiting for starting speaking. "Umm… uh, yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Just… you know met… some friends."

' _Don't worry about it…? asshole.'_ Lara groused. _'Like I'm not going to worry about gunshots and him. Shagging asshole! Stupid American nerdy…!'_ She kept working on the radio until she saw the number code dancing in front of her.

She sighed letting go of the torrent of emotions as she pushed them away and started to do the task she was doing. "Alex, I'm at the panel and connected to the transmitter."

"Good, the tower'll boost the signal. I'm crossing my fingers for you, LC!"

She activated the radio and winced at the burst of static that offended her delicate ears as she started doing small adjustments to the small nobs on the radio. The words she longed to hear broke out from the small speaker.

" _ **Bsst**_ … _**crack**_ … _**buzz**_ … tuned into the international emergency broadcasting system."

Lara immediately started calling into the radio. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Lara Croft of Endurance. We are stranded on an island in the Dragon's Triangle. We need help and medical supplies. Please Respond!"

* * *

… Static …

* * *

The lack of response except static was the only response as Lara's hopes started to waver. _'Come on! Come on!'_

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Lara Croft of the Endurance…"

A clear man's baritone voice reverberated from the speaker as Lara felt her heart soar. "This is aircraft N177A, we've been searching for you since the distress call from your vessel. Almost given up hope!"

Gasping for joy, Lara replied. "So had we! Glad you didn't though."

Chuckling good naturedly, the man continued. "We've got your approximate position, but we could sure use a visual."

"We'll figure something out."

"Good. We'll be heading your way soon. Over and out."

Lara rested her head in relief as she could hear her radio exploding as Roth, Jonah, Reyes and Alex all cheered, many of them letting out laughs of joy.

"Lara Croft! You are my hero! Woohoo!"

"That's my girl." Roth's gruff voice cut through Alex's jubilation."

"Little Bird, even Reyes is smiling now…" There was a scoff and denial. "What? You are though." Jonah's jovial voice broke in.

Just laughing with happiness, Lara rested her head on her knees and just let the moment flood over her. _'They were saved! They were going home! They were safe; they were going to escape from this awful island. All they had to do was get Sam, and meet up with their rescuers.'_

She looked out and the island seemed somewhat less… scary. Knowing that it was all over made the ugliness less… well ugly. They just needed to send some type of signal to let the pilot know where they are.

"Does anyone have something to use as a signal?" Lara asked through her radio. She knew her path down would be hell as she had broken the ladder on her ascent.

"I've got a fuel tank her, let me light it up." Jonah stated happily. "Should cause a big enough of an explosion and the smoke will make a pretty big signal."

"But," Reyes voice broke in. "it will also let all our enemies know where we are at."

"Their called the Solarii." Lara mentioned quietly. "I ran into a few and interrogated one."

Rough voice rasping, Roth questioned. "Did they know where Sam is?"

"They mentioned she was located in the mountain temple." Lara's thoughts running faster than even her quick words. "I'll try to get back to Alex and we will head your way."

Lara turned and headed down the small ladder slowly and carefully. Hope happily bubbled inside of her as the quick beat of her heart until she got down to the level above the damaged ladder. She turned toward the one of the connecting support lines. She didn't love the idea of trying to do a zip line off of the metal solid two inch line.

Throwing her climbing axe over the line and flew down, the wind ripping through her hair as she plummeted swiftly toward the rough green ground. Just before landing, she let go and she rolled over and over again as the kinetic force slammed her into the ground but dissipated as she slowly rose to her feet. Her adrenaline rushing through her petite frame. Confidently walking over toward where her axe lay, Lara picked it up and placed it in her belt.

BOOM! The explosion reverberated in the air as a thick plume of black-grey cloud that rose around five kilometers from her in the trees. She looked with happiness toward the obvious sign… no one could miss that beautiful signal and not even a few minutes later Lara heard the most wonderful sound. The mechanical roar of a plane's engine.

' _There it is!'_ Her heart soared in joy and happiness and then out of nowhere in the clear blue sky Lara watched a dark storm cloud appeared. Shock flooded her as lightning stabbed viciously out and struck the right engines of the N177A causing them to explode in a flash of fireworks display of color.

* * *

Lara stared now in abject horror, as her dreams and hopes also went down in the flames of the plane's engines. However, the worst thing ever though was the wind… Lara swore it was a hissing whisper haunting her. "No one escapes!"

Horror leaves a distinctive scar upon one's soul, but how many brutal scars can the soul carry? This was something no one knows. There is always a point when the cup of suffering overflows as the pain becomes too much and the sufferer must decide what to do with the pain.

The smoke and fire were plainly visible in the wilderness of the island as Lara stood in shock, from where she had watched the plane coming in and the horrible lightning and mocking words whispered through the air. It wasn't natural. That was for sure, haunted winds, random storms, and spontaneous lightning. What if the legends of Himiko weren't just legends, but how could that be? It wasn't possible for a human being to command such things. Such power and to control storms? Not possible. Just not possible. Nevertheless, what explanation was there? Less than half an hour ago, there had been no storm clouds and then lightning. Somethings were indescribable and unknowable. What she did know, was they weren't escaping using the air plane: And there might be survivors.

Compassion compelled her to action; she knew what the enemy would do to the pilots when they caught them. Lara spun around and headed toward the black smoke that told of the final resting place of the plane N177A.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading. I hope you all enjoyed. Please let me know y'all's thoughts and give me a Review.**_

 _ **Thanks,**_

 _ **Jack**_


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